In His Name Devotionals
FLOWERS FOR JACOB—FLOWERS FOR JESUS
In His Name Devotionals
FLOWERS FOR JACOB—FLOWERS FOR JESUS
“...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: then neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Therefore do not worry...” (Matthew 6:28-31)
A grieving mother wrote: “My infant son, Jacob, was born in 1997 and what became his birthday also became the day of his death. His life only consisted of a few minutes, but what he taught me in that few minutes, most of us spend a lifetime learning.
“One afternoon after visiting his grave, I came home with tear stained eyes. My husband, not knowing where I had been, asked what was wrong. ‘I was changing Jacob’s flowers,’ I explained. Choking back what seemed a flood of tears, I said: ‘That’s all I can do for him—change his flowers. I can’t change his diaper, feed him a bottle, read him a book or even rock him to sleep as I can for Hannah’ (his surviving twin sister). The conversation ended here, but my grieving thoughts continued for many months.
“The words I had said to my husband echoed over and over in my head. Soon, my thoughts of Jacob were comforted by thoughts of Jesus. How many times have I changed Jesus’ flowers? Look at what Jesus did for me in His short life of 33 years. Look at His agonizing death—He suffered so much for me. Have I ever stopped to really change His flowers at the grave every Sunday? We can never repay Jesus for His death of love and yet all God asks of us, as Christians, is to stop and remember His Son at the start of our week. How sad and betrayed God must feel when we pass the plates that represent His Son’s death and yet never stop to truly remember this death and thank Him.”
This loving Christian mother concluded her letter: “Though I don’t any longer change Jacob’s flowers every week, thoughts of him are in my heart everyday, along with thoughts of Jesus. I do not have to worry about Jacob, for he is being ‘rocked’ in the arms of Jesus and this makes Jesus even more precious to me. One day we will all be together!”
Oh, how we all need to follow her example and come to the cross on Sunday, as well as every day of the week—kneel before Him and lay down our thoughts; our flowers of love.
