Rose bush (FCR Photo)
Have you ever really stopped to smell the roses?
This is not a moment to lean over and breathe in the aroma but rather one spent looking closely at the rose and the branch from the trunk of the plant that produces it.
You’ll notice the thorns, which is not a surprise, but what is very interesting is that the deeper you get into a rose bush, the thorns grow down instead of up.
For most of my life, I thought the thorns were meant to keep you from getting close to the plant, but it is actually the opposite; it wants to keep you from getting away.
Do you see the perfect example the rose bush provides when considering sin?
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it,” explains 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV).
Maybe when we start feeling the discomfort of the smaller thorns around what we’re doing is a good time to flee before we’re so entangled in our mess that only the Master Gardener can cut us free from the pain.
(#17)
