Follow The Son

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
                                                                                Luke 9:23

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This summer, my oldest son and I went on a mission trip to Hungary.  We were serving in the little town of Tóalmás, a rural community surrounded by endless acres of farmland. One of the crops Hungarians grow is the sunflower and they caught my attention. The flowers were in full bloom, creating a sea of brilliant yellow as far as the eye could see.
 
Sunflowers are a unique flower; they get their name because they follow the sun across the sky. In the morning they face the east and track the sun to the west. Then through the night, they turn their heads back to the east in anticipation of the next sunrise.
 
All flowers need the sun to grow, but most do not follow the sun throughout the day like the sunflower.  The sunflower is one of the fastest growing and tallest flowers in the world.  In fact, the tallest sunflower ever recorded stood over 30 feet tall. In order to become what it was created to be it must soak up as much sunlight as possible, so as it grows it follows the sun across the sky.  
 
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on the things above not on the things of the earth.” The way the sunflower keeps its face turned toward the sun reminds me of how the Lord wants us to keep our focus on Him. This is the way we grow and mature, by spending time with Him, learning to trust and follow Him.
 
The farmer grows sunflowers for several reasons, here are just a few. They replenish the soil, the flowers have a deep root system and when it is allowed to die in its place the decomposition adds nutrients to the soil.  A wheat crop grown after a crop of sunflowers typically produces a bumper crop. The seeds are crushed to make oil, which is used in cooking and even medicine to prevent high cholesterol and heart disease.  They are also grown for animal feed and human consumption.
 
As the sunflower follows the sun it matures into a beautiful flower, and a vast field of them is breathtaking. But its true purpose is not fulfilled until it dies.  Luke 9:23 says “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” In this verse Jesus is saying following me will look like sacrifice, it will demand more than you think you have to give.  At times it will take you to places of rejection and isolation.
 
In the next verse Jesus says “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” In these two verses Jesus says the way to follow me, to live out what I have created you to be, is to lay down your life. Lay down your pride, lay down the way you think you should be treated, lay down your desire to serve yourself, lay down what you want others to think of you and follow Me.  
 
Hebrews 12:2 says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus is the example, He loved us and laid down His life, and He is calling us to do the same. But in order to do this we must keep the eyes of our heart fixed on Him.
 
So when we see a beautiful sunflower let’s be reminded to follow the Son.

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash