Life through the thorns

As I took the pictures above, I didn't really think about spiritual truths that could be attached to them. Then I listened to a great sermon by Bill Johnson out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA about "Transformation through Loyalty", and it got me thinking about how we view life, relationships, love, friendship, and even our work.

So often, like the picture above, the thorns of life are what are in focus, and the life behind the thorns, as depicted by the ducks, is either out of focus or not even noticed. It's very easy to get focused on the thorns because that is what is right in front of us; the thorns hurt, and often, there's nothing we can do about the thorns. We often cannot cut through them or walk around them; sometimes we have to stay IN the thorns and yet we are called to see the LIFE beyond the thorns! This takes discernment, faith, hope, and, from today's sermon, loyalty.

Every relationship in our lives will be fraught with thorns at one point or another; the easy thing to do is to turn around and walk away; however, that may be the most destructive action for both the one who turns away and the life of those on the other side of the thorns.

There was once a man who bore a crown of thorns which were not simply placed gently on his head, but rather forced into his skull. Then, the men who put this crown of thorns on his head beat him about the head, driving the thorns deeper. This man could have SO easily, in a flash, walked away from the thorns and the pain they inflicted, but he chose to endure the thorns because he saw the LIFE that lay on the other side of those thorns, and the life He would provide as a result of being loyal to His Father and loving every single person on the planet! Enduring the thorns brought us the ultimate freedom!