The Roses

In 1979, Bette Midler had a huge hit record with “The Rose”. If you look at the lyrics, you will see negatives throughout the song, with love being compared to a razor that cuts and other views of life that are less than uplifting. It isn’t until the last verse of the song, the last lines, that we are reminded that a simple rose seed, buried beneath the snow, will become a beautiful rose in the spring. The thought is that however down and negative life is at the moment, there is always the promise of better times in the future.

We have all known people who look at life as a series of negatives. For them, not only is the glass half empty, it also has a hole in the bottom and the rest of the liquid is seeping out and soon it will be empty. Their life is one negative crisis after another and despite our best efforts to show them the half-full glass, they just can’t understand how we can be so upbeat and cheerful in such a negative world. We get accused of not being realistic and not seeing things as they really are. They tell us we need to stop dreaming and believing that things are going to get better. What they don’t see is we have someone on our side who has told us there is a brighter future, that if life is currently trying to push us down, we need to keep pushing back so we can climb back up.

The Someone I am referring to, of course, is God. Throughout our history with him, we have been told over and over how the end of the story is just the beginning of a wonderful eternity with him. If there was ever a time when God would have been down in spirit, had that been possible, it would have been when his Son, Jesus Christ, was hanging on the cross dying a cruel and painful death. If that was my son or yours, that would certainly be the worst of days. For God, that was the best of days in his in relationship with mankind. His Son’s death on that cross opened the gates of Heaven for us and for all who came before and will come in the future. It allowed all of those created in his image and likeness to join him forever. Jesus Christ suffered, died, was buried in a tomb in the rock, and rose in glory and majesty, ascending to Heaven forty days later. If he can go from the ugliest of all the tortures and deaths to such resplendent glory, why can’t we look at that and draw a lesson from it?

Are you on the top of the world or down in the pit or someplace in between? Regardless of where you are, there is always a better life, a better experience, ahead of you. Do you concentrate on the torture and pain of your current personal cross, or, do you concentrate on the better future? That better future may be here in this life or the next. Are you honoring the God who made you, his Son who suffered for you, by being negative or are you looking ahead at the rising future that he has promised, both here and later forever?

Take that half-full glass and fill it the rim and overflowing with the love of God. Drink of the love of God, the love of Jesus Christ and you will never be thirsty again.

When the spring comes, look for the rose bush rising out of the ground, roses blooming on its branches, and see the promise of all of the beauty not only of the roses but also a never ending future with God.