Wayne Hills Baptist Church

"To Know Him and To Make Him Known"
              

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Keys to Worship
A Personal Devotional by Debbie Hall

When Bible Plants Brag

Not too long ago a lot of the plants that are in the Bible gathered together for an important meeting.  “Once and for all,” said the Barley, “we are going to decide which of us is the most important plant in the Bible story.”  All the plants agreed that the time had come to decide.

The grass spoke first.  “I think we all know that I am the most important plant spoken of in the scriptures.  I am the first one mentioned in the book of Genesis.[1] I am plentifully abundant on the earth, and when I am not around the beautiful deer have to search and find me.[2] And when the Lord Jesus fed 5,000 peoples he had them all sit down on top of me in the field.[3]”

“Give us a break!” said the thorns! “The Bible also says that you wither away- it’s the word of God that stands forever.[4]  Besides, not only deer eat you- so do wild donkeys![5]”

“That’s a cheap shot,” said the grass.  “Especially coming from thorns- do I have to remind you guys that after the fall of man he was promised that you’d be what came up out of the ground when he worked[6]- not to mention that incident on the Cross.[7]” At that the thorns went silent, because they really were ashamed of what had happened at the cross.

At that the bulrushes and the reeds spoke.  “We think it’s fairly obvious that our role was the most important.  After all, we bulrushes made a little boat for baby Moses and the reeds saluted him as he passed by.[8]  He grew up and received the 10 commandments from God that tell people what God expects of them.”   “Don’t forget that Heaven will be measured with a reed a thousand furloughs long,[9]” said an excited reed.   

Their argument seemed compelling, when the grass, which tends to have been everywhere all these things took place said: “Yeah, but the mean soldiers also hit Jesus with a reed after they spat on him.[10] 

“I hate grass,” said one of the bulrushes!

“Let’s talk about love for a minute,” said the pomegranate!  Don’t forget that in the Song of Solomon when he was flattering his woman he compared her temples behind her veil to a beautiful piece of pomegranate![11]”

“Yeah, and everyone west of Jerusalem is still trying to figure out what that means,” said the grass. 

“I hate grass,” said the pomegranate. 

 “Hey,” said the mandrakes, “if you’re gonna talk about love, ask Leah what a few of us can do![12]

 “You want effectiveness in getting your way? Try some lentil stew! It’ll get you the birthright every time- Just ask Jacob,[13] said a very proud lentil.

 “What good’s a lentil?” said the grass.

 “Be gentle with the lentil” said the barley.

 “I hate grass,” said the lentil. 

 “Pomegranates!  Mandrakes!  Lentil stew!  Let’s talk about beauty!” said the Lilies.  “When Israel was being described in the Song, she was compared to the beauty of a lily in the valley, a lily among thorns![14]

 “I hate lilies,” said the thorns. 

 “And of course,” continued the lily, “Our Lord instructed disciples everywhere to consider the lilies, how even Solomon’s splendor did not compare to that of a lily.[15]

 “Ahem…don’t forget the Rose of Sharon” said the Rose.[16] 

 “But you can’t have a rose without a thorn,” said the grass!

 “Would you stop it with the thorn comments?” said the Barley!

 “The most important plants are not the most beautiful ones at all” protested the myrrh!  “The most important plants are the ones with the most value.”  “It was I who Israel tried to impress the Egyptian governor with,[17] it was I whom the princesses had to wash in in Esther’s day,[18] and need I remind you that it was I who was brought as a gift for the baby Jesus,[19] and I who along with a mixture of aloe that Nicodemus used to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.[20] 

 With that everyone assembled said, “I hate myrrh.”

 “Beauty and value are nothing in the Bible without usefulness,” said the hyssop!  It is I who was dipped in the blood of the Passover lamb,[21] It was I who was used to sanctify unclean houses,[22]  and King David said it was I who would purge him and he’d be clean.[23]

 “Yeah, but it was also sour wine on a hyssop that Jesus refused to drink from on the cross,” said, you guessed it, grass.

 Everyone but hyssop thought grass had a pretty good point there.

 On and on they went!  Mustard talked about how important he was because Jesus used him to illustrate the Kingdom of Heaven.[24] The others just laughed because his name was Mustard! Barley even gave his own reasons, but the others gave him flax for speaking while he was moderating.[25]  Scarlet argued that since she was used to die things red, the color of Jesus’ blood, that she was the most important.  Then grass reminder her that Isaiah had said that sin was like the color scarlet.[26] She pouted while the others cheered!

Wheat made a compelling argument, but it was pointed out that wherever he was tares showed up also.[27]

 Just as it looked like the arguing would never end, the wise old vine spoke.  “Listen, plant friends,” said the vine, “this arguing could go on all day.  We could each make an argument for ourselves.  Jesus himself said “I am the vine.[28]”  I’ve got my case, and you have yours.”

 “We are sounding too much like people, who often fail to realize that the Bible is not the story of great people but of a great God.  We are the creation, He is the Creator!  We are all a special part of the story, but Jesus is the story!  Everything about us will fade away, but God will receive glory from angels and people 10 billion years from now when earth and all it contains has vanished.”

 After the vine was done speaking, all of the plants realized that Jesus was the reason they were all there, and they recommitted themselves to worshipping and glorifying him forever, and being content to let Him get the glory for their little part in the story.  They even decided that grass wasn’t so bad after all!

 Rev. Danny Campbell               April 2003