Did you know that young sunflowers face the sun in the east each morning, and follow it around the sky to the west throughout the day? Each night, they turn back to face the east, and the process starts all over as the first rays of light illuminate their golden, amber and rust colored petals. This time of year, as summer turns to autumn and the nights grow cool, the mature flowers stay facing the east, allowing them to warm faster and attract bees.
The sunflowers' rotation of 180 degrees to continually face the sun is due to the unique genetic traits that God designed within them. The sunlight causes them to grow tall and mature into their full beauty. This reminds me of how, as Christ followers, Christians should keep their eyes on Jesus. In Hebrews 12:1, life is described as a race that is set before us, and how we are easily distracted and veer off course by the cares of this world and our sin. At the end of that verse, we are told "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Yet as Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink below the waves, we may also question how, when life brings difficulty, trials, and tragedy, and discouragement abounds, can we continue to lift up our eyes and run our race with patience? The next verse tells us - by "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..." Jesus, being both the author of our faith and the finisher of our faith is an encouragement to us all, as he promises that "...he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6b)
Sunflowers I
and Sunflowers II
watercolor
All scripture quoted from the King James Bible, 1611
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