The Red Flower

The Red Flower

It was a beautiful spring day; I decided to go for a walk on my favorite path in the park.

I grabbed my water bottle and gave a kiss on the cheek to the handsome man I loved and had been living with for the last few years.

The park was almost empty, so I cranked up my music and picked up my pace. The cool breeze and sun on my face made me excited for the nearing of summer. Just as I rounded the corner where the path forked, I saw these beautiful red flowers, in the middle of the field. They were surrounded by other colorful wildflowers, but none enticed me as these did. Their bright red blooms stood out like a large red bird on a snowy day. They seemed to call my name as I came closer. “Oh, I must have these beautiful flowers to put on my table. They are so pleasing to the eye and will add just the right amount of color to my new vase.

Just as I reached my hand out to pick a flower, an older man with deep wrinkles, worn skin and soft blue eyes stopped.

“Young lady, please do not touch the red flowers in the middle of the garden. they are extremely dangerous.” He said softly.

“Thank you for the information but why would they be so appealing if they were dangerous. I think it will be okay to take just a few, what harm could it be? “

I assumed he was being over cautious, after all what could he know about flowers.

I thanked him again and he moved on.

I slowly reached to take the first flower, just as I wrapped my fingers around the small delicate stem, I felt the pain of a sharp thorn as I stared down into the eyes of a deadly snake.

I froze with fear.

Suddenly the swipe of a large wooden cane knocked the snake to the ground where he quickly scampered away. I looked back to see the older man who had warned me.

He reached in his pocket pulled out a handkerchief and gently wrapped my bleeding finger.

“I should have listened to you; you knew what was hiding in the flowers.”

“Yes, but you had to feel pain and fear before you would believe me. That is what happens when we choose by sight and not by faith. I am reminded of another young girl who chose by sight and doubted God’s truth, and sin was born.”

My eyes were opened that day as I remembered a scripture from my childhood.

“But the serpent said to the woman. You will not surely die. For God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So, when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes. (Genesis 3: 4-7)

She stopped herself in the middle of the verse and wept.

“you see my dear, we either choose to walk with God, or we choose to walk away for Him. Have you made decisions that lead you away from Christ.” He asked gently.

“Yes, I have and I’m not sure how to get away from it without causing pain to someone else.”

“Well, you are off to a good start by admitting and accepting God’s truth. Now comes trust, faith, and prayer. Get to know God’s word and listen to Him as he speaks to you.”

I reached down to pick up my phone I dropped, when I turned back to thank him, he was gone.

I looked around the park, asking if anyone had seen him. I never saw him again.

I sat down on the bench by the stream that was flowing fast from the last rain, downloaded a bible app, and began to read the book of John.

So, if the word was in the beginning and God was the word as scripture says in John 1, that would mean that if I said the Bible was not all truth, I would also be saying God is not all truth. I realized at that moment what truth was, God was truth, and He became flesh in His Son Jesus.

An old Bible verse from years past rang in my ear.

“I am the way, the Truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

It was a truth I wanted, a truth I could not ignore. It was the choice the older man spoke of. A choice that meant life or death and I wanted life with Christ more than the world I lived in. I could not explain this pull into the Father’s arms that day. I just knew it was an everlasting and unconditional love.

I walked home that day a new creature, chosen, forgiven, an heir of God, a royal priesthood, with a purpose unique only to me.

I stopped and looked back at the red flowers, remembering the pain of the thorn and the snake that wanted my life, and my Jesus that died to save it.

Susan D Perry

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