Read an Excerpt
consider the lily
A Case for Stress-Free Religion
By Thomas J. Williams Jr.
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Thomas J. Williams Jr.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-3503-8
Chapter One
rest from stress
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Before Christ came, man's relationship with God was complex and involved elaborate ceremonies and laws that raised the stress level of worship, but Jesus came to earth with a stress free approach to religion when He said "my yoke is easy and my burden light". He simplified things for us and gave us a rest from this stress by pointing out the obvious and offering us a picture of nature surviving and flourishing without the stress of thinking or worrying. Rather than tell us all the ways we can overcome and go to the next level He simply tells us consider the lily. Note the simplicity of this statement and the uncomplicated manner of Christ as He directs us to observe this common foliage growing all around us. This does not require religious instructions, high ranking membership in a spiritual assembly, or any form of ecclesiastical sanctioning. You need not sit at the feet of a Gamaliel as Paul did, just open your eyes, and consider the lily. It is right there in front of you and readily available to everyone regardless of whom they might be. There is no need for detailed interpretations which means that the benefits of this word are not delayed (so much of what we hear requires time to understand and digest which means that we are unable to apply its blessings immediately). We hear so much about seasons but Jesus speaks of constant provision which the lily enjoys without any interruption. even when the lily does endure the various seasons every one of its needs are supplied. Hot or cold, warm or cool the lily is sustained and every necessity is provided for. While the extreme colds of winter do not allow for growth the lily remains strong until the advent of spring calls forth the first buds and it blooms on cue and flourishes. The heat of summer may cause its blades to wilt but it remains constant and consistent until precipitation is warranted by God. If refreshing rain comes it is welcomed but even when it doesn't there is no variance in the steadfastness of the lily.
How wonderful is the lesson taught by the lily's example of faith and trust that God, who planted the lily knows what the lily requires in order for it to exist and accomplish what it was created to accomplish. There is no stress involved because there is no need for concern. The lily relies on its sustenance from God who is the same source that sustained all the lilies before it and in light of the countless number of lily success stories that preceded them each lily can look back with confidence at the great cloud of witnesses and be assured that God will endow it with the same grace of growth and increase so that it will not only survive but thrive and prosper.
Would not our lives be free of stress if we were to simply trust that the same God who had enough knowledge to create us has enough knowledge of us to sustain us? does He not know what the needs of His creation are? Given His past success at doing all things well and the assurance that He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for-ever, He remains capable of continuing to insure that all things work together for the good to them that love the Lord. Consider the lily that does not concern itself with the how of God but rests in the reality of God and relies on Him for existence and subsistence. We must take the same approach to life and spend less time worrying and more time fulfilling the purpose for which we were created.
Chapter Two
the lily and sanctification
"For by one offering he hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified." If we are to consider the bible to be the infallible word of God then we must believe that this statement makes it imperative that we be sanctified for the express purpose of perfection. According to this proclamation I, being sanctified, am perfected. To view this in its proper perspective we must again consider the lily.
The lily is perfected for its particular purpose and requires no additional enhancements with which it fulfills God's requirements for its existence. Whatever is needed to sustain it is provided by its creator. The soil, the source of its nutrients, is provided. The rain comes when needed and should it not rain the lily never complains, but rather accepts God's decision as to how much rain it receives. Thus it grows and is arrayed beyond solomon's ability to match.
What does sanctified mean except to be set apart, consecrated, and approved. It must be clearly understood that it is not only possible for you to live sanctified but it is anticipated and required of all believers for divine approval and ultimately fulfills the Lord's commandment.
This sanctification is provided in our redemption by the death of Christ and promised in the word which makes it not only possible but practical for each one of us.
Consider the lily which Christ has sanctified for the express purpose of garnishing the earth. Being sanctified the lily never allows the function of other plant life to interfere with its intended design. Likewise you must believe that your sanctification is for an express purpose and that it is meant for you to live and can be adapted to your peculiar temperament, your individual circumstances, your personal conditions and your entire life.
When Jesus, being the great Teacher and the herald of a new revelation of God to man, (The Kingdom of Heaven), entered this world He was confronted by a people misled by those who were purported to be their religious guides. What was originally intended to be a respite for the souls of men had become a yoke about their necks. The people were being oppressed by the burden of ceremonies and traditions, destitute of true ease of conscience.
Rather than saddle them with additional religious rituals, Jesus invited them to Himself as the one who could give adequate consolation for all of their sorrows. He welcomed all, in every age who might feel themselves oppressed by ignorance, sin, and trouble to divest themselves of the chains of dogmas and creeds and enter into a new dimension wherein religion would no longer be an undertaking but an undergirding.
To understand the state of religion in Jesus day try to imagine a man having a great load placed upon him that he feels obligated to carry to a certain place: every step he takes reduces his strength, which renders his load all the more oppressive. However, because he is convinced that carrying the load will please his benefactor he is committed to carrying it and therefore he labors with the utmost exertion to reach the place where it is to be laid down. Now imagine that the son of his benefactor, seeing his distress, offers to ease him of his load, that he may enjoy rest even while fulfilling his obligation without exertion or anxiety.
This is what Jesus offers to the Jews who were heavily laden with the burdensome rites of the mosaic institution, rendered still more oppressive by the additions made by the religious leaders who, our Lord says, bound them with heavy burdens (Mt 23:4); thus they were laboring in their observance of the law in order to make themselves pleasing to God. Jesus extends an invitation to them to lay down their load, and receive the salvation He has procured for them.
Unfortunately the nation of Israel had become so accustomed to their customs that they saw Jesus as more of a problem than a prophet and they rejected Him. The greatest resistance came from the hierarchy of the religious world who saw Him as a threat and they used the influence that they held over the masses to harass, hinder and eventually murder Him. My former pastor used to say; the Jews did not realize that the Law was only the appetizer but they got so filled up on the hors d'oeuvres that when Jesus, who was the main course, came along, they had no room for Him.
When Jesus is rejected He goes beyond the boundaries of Judaism and says all ye that labor, there is something here for everyone; sinners, wearied in the ways of iniquity, are invited to come to Him and find speedy relief. Penitents, burdened with the guilt of their crimes, may come to this sacrifice, and find instant pardon. All believers, sorely tempted, and oppressed by the residuals of a carnal mind, may come to the fountain filled with blood that cleanseth from all unrighteousness and sin. He becomes the succor in every temptation.
When Jesus says all ye that labor he means ALL. If we understand that all is an absolute word it means that you cannot take anything away from it or add anything to it. The word all means just that, all. ALL are invited to come, ALL are promised rest, and ALL find this complete and uninterrupted rest in Jesus. This invitation forms the foundation of the messiah's message on the mount and He found the perfect model to illustrate the behavior which every believer should exemplify when He said consider the lily.
Chapter Three
making it plain
While teaching those around Him the scriptures Jesus had a tendency to use imagery as his tool. He was not concerned with homiletics, rarely using what some would consider a scholarly approach (even though His wisdom far surpassed any man's). His main concern was getting His message across and He felt that the best way to do that was to teach by association which allows us to readily identify with His message. The confusing ambiguity of the mosaic Law coupled with the political aspirations of the Hebrew hierarchy had plunged religion into the dark ages. During successive generations of biblical history God had, from time to time, and by various methods, gradually made His truth and will known whether it was through His prophets, by personal conference, dreams, visions or by supernatural impulses upon the minds of chosen men and women. The eternal Word of God had indeed appeared and spoken to the patriarchs, prophets, and others; but as Jehovah He spoke to a select number of individuals. The problem was that they were mere men of the same fallen nature with their brethren to whom they spoke and oftentimes much was lost in translation or perverted when the instrument being used decided to use his or her position as God's spokesman to further their own personal agenda. Like many of our present day preachers they would speak to the people in the wisdom of words, or those plausible reasoning, rhetorical flourishes, and arts of oratory by which many are so easily fascinated. Or they would speak in some flowery language which the common man was unable to understand or grasp. The end-times prophecy of an itching ear audience has come to pass and people would rather hear an exciting lie than a dull truth. A good teacher, however, is not concerned with the student's inclination but rather his orientation.
Jesus used the common to explain the uncommon. He employed the everyday to explain the hardly ever. He invoked the mystery of the diversity of the wind's direction to explain the Spirit to Nicodemus. He used the local to explain the international and the finite to explain the infinite. He was the creator utilizing creation to create for His creation. In other words He used what you could see and feel to explain what was not visible or corporeal and so it is that here, surrounded by the panorama of natural phenomenon, Jesus paints a picture of organic survival as a standard by which sentient beings could and should function and His first brush stroke said; Consider the lily!
In acknowledging the birds, according to Luke Jesus called them ravens, in Matthew He did not single out one particular species, but called them fowls of the air. We must not overlook this small difference in terms since fowl are not only birds, but edible birds. I must note that as fowl the birds were not just self-serving but were of value to others as food, while the lily had one job and that was to simply grow. This seemingly inconsequential entity which served such an insignificant purpose is chosen by our Lord as our example. Herein is a lesson in itself that no one is inconsequential with Christ and no purpose is to be seen as inferior.
The imagery would still retain its power to teach had Jesus limited it to the birds but as He stood on the mountains of Palestine Jesus found Himself in the midst of the flora and fauna and sought to convey a much deeper implication because while the birds had the capacity to escape their environment through flight the lily, like man, was relegated to the earth and being earthbound, it was subject to whatever came its way. Thus in His discourse on divine provisions Jesus tells us that God has provided the means of sustenance as well as confidence right before our eyes, in the air above and on the ground below.
When His disciples asked that He would teach them to pray as John taught his disciples Jesus told them to restrict their personal requests to supplication; "give us this day, our daily bread. But here it would appear that His objective was not only sustenance but also included; existence, subsistence, as well as resilience therefore He tells us to consider the lilies.
Chapter Four
divine purpose/divine provision
Consider: think about, mull over, reflect on, deliberate, contemplate, take into account, ponder, bear in mind, respect, deem, judge, care about, study.
Of all of these definitions the one that I favor is the word study because I believe that the more we examine a subject the more readily we can understand it and as we continue to study it, it becomes clearer to us. One can only become an expert in any field through careful study. That is why a botanist is able to see more in a flower than we can see because he studies flowers. Or an astronomer's understanding of the stars becomes greater as he studies them. What an artist sees in a lump of clay goes far beyond our sight.
As you consider (study) the lily you will be able to clearly see how stress free life can be and begin to recognize that the lily's existence and growth exemplifies God's plan for creation. This should encourage us to go on to fulfill our divine purpose by remaining totally dependent on God to provide all that we need to fulfill that purpose. Considering the lily introduces us to the truth that God will supply all of our needs which makes Him our only real need.
Consider firstly that, like us, the lilies of the field owe their existence to God as their creator. While we may tend to deviate from God's original plan for our life the lily does no such thing. By observing, or in the words of Christ, considering the lily, we are given keen insight into the mind of God as we watch the development of creation in the hands of its creator.
Whenever something is created by man the initial quantity of resources the designer begins with has diminished depending on the volume and scope of the creation and whatever is required to bring about that creation. This depletion will take place regardless of the extent of that original quantity. This means that immediately at conception there has to be less at the creator's disposal than there was before conception. Over time there is always the possibility that those resources could be completely depleted and will eventually run out depending upon use and need. Should the need for improvement or repair arise there is always the possibility that there may not be sufficient resources to maintain restore or repair the creation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from consider the lily by Thomas J. Williams Jr. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas J. Williams Jr.. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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