The Lord etched this concept on my heart many years ago while I prepared to teach a small group Bible study on the parable of the sower from Mark chapter 4.  I’ve never forgotten it, nor will I.  The Lord permanently stamped this concept into my mind leaving an indelible mark on my psyche.  Someday, Lord willing, I hope to write a book sharing more about what God taught me that day.  But not today, the fruit is not yet ripe unto harvest.

Occasionally as I study and prepare to teach other passages from God’s Word, He will call to mind that familiar day and remind me of one or two principles He taught me.  Today is such a day.

As I sat to prepare this morning for our small group study tomorrow focused on a passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, the Sonflower Principle came to the forefront of my mind once again.  The passage that jogged my memory this morning is Colossians 2:6-7.  Perhaps you are familiar with it.  In it Paul writes:

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.”

I have underlined the key words that called to mind the lessons of years past.  In this passage Paul describes true and vibrant faith as being rooted, built-up, and established in Christ.  These characteristics are also true of Sonflowers.

Sonflowers are symbolic of the fruit of the Spirit which takes root in our hearts and lives as we grow in knowledge and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The seed of truth, planted deep into the soil of our hearts and fertilized by the Word of God, takes root and bears fruit, 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.  To continue producing fruit the Sonflower must stay rooted, built-up, established, and grounded in the Word to withstand the earthly elements and the prevailing winds that inevitably blow through life.  As it grows, the Sonflower draws nourishment from the living water that flows from God to us through the Spirit and it basks in the light of the Son Himself returning prayers and praise to the Source as naturally as water evaporates from the soil.

Well I dare not extend the analogy much further because as I said, the lessons are not yet fully learned and the time has not yet come to write the book.  But someday, hopefully someday soon, that day will come.  Until then, I am content to soak in the radiance of the Son and grow my roots deeper into the soil of His Word because the deeper our roots run the stronger our faith will be and the better able we are to stand in the face of prevailing winds.

My prayer for you is that the Truth will sprout within your hearts, that it will take root and grow deep into the Word and high into the world to produce much fruit, yielding a great and mighty harvest for the glory of the Son.

May the Lord richly bless you today and always.

To learn more about the passage that sparked this post you can follow this link to Guidelines for Christian Living: New Life in Christ.  To learn more about Christ the Center, follow this link to a four part series on the book of Colossians.