We have a seven foot wide metal archway in the middle of our back yard with a knock out rose bush on each side. Extending on each side out from the archway for seven feet is a rectangular brick flower bed the same thickness of the archway, about two feet wide. In those beds, along with the rose bushes, we have planted two more rose bushes that are started from cuttings, along with some petunias, marigolds, periwinkle, and surprise. “Surprise” are those plants coming up, but I’m not sure what. Next to the archway, at the base of the rose bushes, I have planted morning glory to climb up the archway and decorate it with beautiful foliage and flowers. Everything is coming along great, and the more sunny days we get, with the feeding that I am giving it, it will flourish. However, if the morning glory is going to add its glory to the archway, care must be taken to keep the eager, spiraling tendrils out of the rose bush and climbing right on up the archway. If not tended to every few days, you will have a lot of unwrapping to do in a thorny rose bush in order to get it going up the metal structure. If it was not tended to at all, it would be all wrapped up in the rose bush, never reaching its full potential of “glory” adding its beauty to the ornamental metal archway. By keeping it tended to, we will have beautiful green foliage with blue and light purple blossoms enhancing the off white metal archway. This is what we can enjoy for our morning coffee view.
Just as the morning glory is created to reach out and spiral around something that takes it up, so our spirit, our inner man, is created to reach out and wrap around something that will take it up. As the roots go down, the arms go up to embrace that which will offer support for going to the heights so the beauty of the creator can be seen by all. It is when we get all tangled up in the low-lying adjoining bushes that we fail to attain unto that for which we are designed. What Jesus did for us by offering himself as the perfect sacrifice to qualify us to receive God’s life, God’s presence, and God’s blessings, is the structure, the beautiful archway, that will take us to the heights for all to see the work of our Creator and Savior. With confidence, we can reach out to, and cling to, and wrap ourselves around Jesus, and know that he will provide the qualification and strength to carry us throughout our life and beyond. Our part is to make those daily adjustments to keep ourselves clinging to him and not allowing ourselves to be side tracked to anything less than the best for our life. In him, through his Word and Spirit, are life, healing, strength, and confidence. Stay wrapped around Jesus.
