Fleeting flowers

This week at PWOC (my weekly on-post Bible Study) I was blessed with an unexpected gift. Two gifts that is. One I could take with me in my heart and one I could bring home in my hands. This week's devotional was based out of I Peter 1:24. "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." Our speaker brought with her a bouquet of gorgeous flowers, an exact replica of one her husband had sent her when he was deployed. The flowers were perfectly in bloom. Each color was vibrant and each bloom succulent. Even the greenery was luscious. As believers in Christ we were reminded how much like that bouquet we are. Collectively we make up a beautiful collection of souls when we gather together, giving off a lovely fragrance to the Lord. Some of us are the grand, colorful lilies and some of us are the sprigs of green that give the bouquet fullness. Others off us are like the damaged and repaired Gerber daisy, which our speaker said broke off on the way to class and had to be repaired with tape! Either way, like cut floral, our existence is short-lived. Our speaker displayed a picture of that same bouquet two weeks later. There was no comparison; what was once teeming with life and vibrancy had become dead and discolored. Then our speaker brought the lesson home by referencing the aforementioned verse. No matter how colorful or tall or fragrant we are, we are here for but a moment. The task is ours to make everyone of our fleeting moments count for Him. Eternal beauty is found only in God and His word. Lord, may my life, no matter how short, bring you honor and glory and bring others to your throne!