“the power of God unto salvation”

Romans 1:16

I just remembered today, another sweet thing that happened to me last week, when I was helping out in one of the children’s classes at Bible Study.

We had just finished going over the lesson, and we had a few minutes before the other half of the class was done, so I was trying to make good use of the time by going over their memory verse with them.  There was a large dry-erase board in the room, so I invited anyone who wanted to, to come up and write a portion of the verse up on the board.  And pretty soon, in their sweet crooked handwriting, we had the whole thing:  “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”  Romans 1:16.

Then I asked them if they’d like to come up and draw a picture to accompany the Scripture verse.  So up they came to contribute their artwork, and pretty soon we had hearts and happy faces and flowers, and a sun and one sea turtle gracing our board.

But it was one little 8 year old flower-artist that made an impression on me.  She drew a single flower ~ something in the daisy family ~ and started to hand the pen back to me, but then returned to her drawing to add something else, and saying as she did, “My flower needs a leaf on the stem, otherwise it won’t grow.”

Now, I’ve studied my science.  Heck, I’ve taught a fair bit o’ science in my life.  I know that the leaves have the job of taking in the energy of the sun and converting it to food for the plant.  But there was just something about the way she phrased it:  The flower needs the leaf, otherwise it won’t grow. 

The flower is the beauty of the plant, generally speaking.  But oh, those little, seemingly insignificant leaves… that’s where the growth is. 

Just a reminder… don’t strive so hard for beauty that you forget to strive for growth.

~ “add to your faith,

virtue… knowledge… self-control,

perseverance… godliness…

brotherly kindness and love” ~

2 Peter 1:1-7

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