Luke 12

Luke 12:27

Lilies Consider the lilies, how they grow—Luke 12:27.In the early spring, before the summer heat has parched and dried up plant life, the land of Palestine is a blaze of color. Everywhere may be seen crocuses, irises, and lilies, also anemones of many colors—red, scarlet, purple, blue, and yellow—till the ground seems to be covered with a rich carpet of the most brilliant tints. It was on a scene like this that Jesus was looking when He said, “Consider the lilies.” We do not know which particular flower He meant. It may have been a very brilliant scarlet anemone. It may have been the tall, handsome gladiolus, which raises its blue or purple flowers among the corn. It may have been just lilies in general.

In any case He had in His mind brilliant flowers which would remind those who looked at them of King Solomon’s royal robes.Why did Jesus wish us to consider the lilies? Because the lilies bring us messages from God.1.

They bring us a message of God’s love. They tell us that God cares not merely to make things, but to make them beautiful. They tell us that He loves us so much that He gives us, not just the things that are necessary, but the things that bring us joy.Do you know the beautiful old legend of how the flowers came to this earth? It tells that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden it was a garden of flowers. And of all the fair things in the Garden they loved the flowers best. Every day they went out to seek for fresh flowers and every evening they returned with blossoms of some new form, or shade, or perfume.One day Adam and Eve fell by their sin, and they were put out of the Garden and an angel was set to guard the gate.

And of all the fair things in the Garden, they missed the flowers most; for as yet there were no flowers on the earth.Then God had compassion on the man and woman and on the countless generations that were to come after them. And He said, “If there are no flowers in the world how will men learn of Him who loves them and clothes them and feeds them?

If there are no flowers, how will Christ, when He comes, find illustrations for His teaching? If there are no flowers, how will men get glimpses of the beauty of Heaven?So God commanded the angel who guarded the gate to take some of the seeds of every flower in the Garden and, as he flew back to heaven, to scatter them over the earth. The angel did as he was commanded. And the winds took the seeds and scattered them far and wide over every continent and island, so that men might learn of God’s love and of the beautiful home He had prepared for those who love Him.So, boys and girls, that is the first message of the lilies and of every little flower that grows. They teach us that God is love. Have we eyes to read their message?God made the country,Man made the town.God clad the countryIn a green gown.. . . . . .Poor folks from EdenDriven away,God made the countryFor a holiday.God gave the countryA flower, a bird,To comfort His childrenFor the flaming sword.For easing and pleasingHe made a tree,Many a sweet rivulet,Dew and the bee.God made the country,Man made the town,Is not God a maker Of great renown?(Katharine Tynan)There is a story of an old Scottish Highlander who every morning went a little distance from his cottage and stood for a few minutes with his bonnet off.

One day a friend came upon him standing thus. He waited till the old man had covered his head and then he asked him if he had been saying his prayers.

With a rare smile the Highlander replied, “I’ve come here every morning for years to take off my bonnet to the beauty of the world.”If we have eyes to read God’s message aright we too shall feel like taking off our bonnet to the beauty of the world.2. The lilies bring us a message of God’s care. If God can trouble to clothe the flowers so beautifully, much more will He clothe and care for His children.Mungo Park, the African traveler, was once attacked and robbed by savages. He was left naked and sick and alone five hundred miles from a European settlement. He had no means of defense against wild beasts; he had no shelter and it was the rainy season. He was just about to give himself up as lost when his eye lit upon a tiny plant of moss no bigger than the tip of his finger.

Yet although it was so small the little plant was perfect in form and beauty. And the traveler thought if God had taken such pains to bring a tiny plant to such perfection in that obscure corner of the world, then He must take knowledge of, and care for, the sufferings of one of the creatures made in His own image.

That thought gave him new hope. He set out to seek for help and eventually reached safety.Boys and girls, this was Jesus’ special message about the lilies. He came to earth to show us that God cares for us. He lived and died to show us that God cares. And if He cares in the big things surely He cares in the little things too. How are we repaying all His love and care?

Luke 12:40

“Be Prepared” Be ye also ready.—Luke 12:40.When the army is in the field, the commanding officer may come at any time to any part of it, and he expects when he does so to find everyone at his post. The sentinels must be on duty, watchful and alert for the coming of the enemy. The soldiers must be drilled and disciplined, and their guns must be clean and in working order. When the commanding officer comes he must find them ready.At the time of the Boer War in South Africa, it was necessary to send Lord Roberts out to take command. It is said that, when he was asked if his health were good enough to bear the strain, since he was an elderly man, he replied, “Yes, I thought I might be wanted, and I have kept myself fit.” So he was ready when the need arose. But he would not have been able to go if he had allowed himself to get slack and indolent and unfit.You know the motto of the boy scouts.

It is “Be prepared” If a boy scout sees an accident, and gives “first aid,” or saves someone from drowning and restores him by artificial respiration, it is because he has been trained in ambulance work and swimming, and is ready for the emergency.When Christ comes He will not come like a general on the day of a public review, when the day has long been fixed, and every man knows he must be at his best. He will come as the general comes when he pays a surprise visit to his men, to see how things go on when he is not expected.

Or He will come as a friend comes, without an invitation, to a house where he is familiar. He is not expected, and no special preparation has been made for him, but he “takes his friends as he finds them.”That is a great test of readiness. If the sentry is not always on the alert, he may be caught napping when the commander comes. If the mistress of the house is an untidy person, and her house is fit to be seen only when she expects company, the visitor may come when she is not ready for him.What would Christ wish to find us doing if He came? Just the work He has given us to do, whatever it is. We all have something which has been given us to do, and He would like to find us doing it, and doing it well.

It may be very humble work, and very uninteresting—as monotonous as that of the sentry pacing his rounds—but it is ours, and it is just what we should be found doing.There was once a wise judge who, when sudden darkness came on, and people thought the end of the world was at hand, said, “Bring lights, and let us go on with the case. We cannot be better employed, if the end has come, than in doing our duty.”Then, too, we should be getting ready for Heaven.

If you knew that you were to be sent alone to live in France, would you not try to learn all you could about the country to which you were going? You would try to learn the language and to find out about the customs, that you might not feel a stranger when you went there. If you are to feel happy in Heaven you must be learning to live the heavenly life now.A gentleman in the South, before the American Civil War, had a Christian slave; and when the master died they told the slave that the master had gone to Heaven. The old slave shook his head. “I’m afraid he didn’t go there.” he said. “But why, Ben?” he was asked. “Because when he would go north, or go to the Springs, he talked about it a long time, and get ready. But he never talked about going to Heaven; never saw him get ready to go there!”A little girl one day said to her mother, “Mamma, my Sunday-school teacher tells me that this world is only a place in which God lets us live a while, that we may prepare for a better world. But, mother, I do not see anybody preparing.

I see you preparing to go into the country, and Auntie is preparing to come here; but I do not see anyone preparing to go there; why don’t they try to get ready?”If Heaven be the land we hope to reach,Is it not time to learn the heavenly speech?It were so sad, amid the shining bandTo roam, lost children, none could understand:While blessed eyes should learn a sweet despair, Knowing we never could be happy there.(F. Langbridge, Little Tapers, 28.)