I was stopped at a red light on my way to work today.  I noticed a woman walking down the street.  Based on the way she was dressed, the way she carried herself and the part of town she was in, I assumed she was a prostitute.  As she walked, she passed by a bush that had one lone large flower on it.  She stopped and looked at it.  She then picked it and walked off with it. 

It struck me.  Here is a woman that society would say was too far gone, that was too hardened by her life, more than likely strung out on drugs.  Like most caught up in her lifestyle, I’m sure she carries herself as if that were true.  Yet, she stopped admired and wanted to possess something of innocence and beauty. 

How often do we make the decision that someone is just too far gone?  How often do we conclude that they are just too hardened by life?  How often are we wrong?  What if, instead of looking down our noses in judgement (and pitying someone is a type of judgement), we instead presented them with the one lone beauty of Christ love?  If they choose to reject Him, that is their decision.  But imagine for just a moment if they don’t.  If they pick Him and take Him as their very own.   Unlike the flower picked by the woman today, He won’t wilt and die.  Quite the opposite, He will breathe a life into them that they have never dreamed possible. 

 

Even prostitutes pick flowers.