A Lovely Rose

A Lovely Rose

You must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

On the other side of Kerri’s community, another young woman, Linda, was dressing for her day as well and smiling as she thought about meeting her old roommate for lunch. Linda was looking forward to catching up on personal news, but she sighed as she thought about her former roomie’s usual inquiry about the guy in the shipping department: “So, have you slept with him yet?”

Linda’s coworkers didn’t help matters with their Monday-morning accounts of their latest “conquests” or of weekend trips with their boyfriends. But she’d seen the wistfulness in some of their faces when she said she was saving herself for her future husband. Often she even quoted to them the first part of Psalm 37:7: “Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act.” Then within her mind, she would quote the rest of the verse: “Don’t worry about evil people who prosper.” Linda always substituted the words when coworkers succeed in their ways.

Linda understands God wasn’t being a killjoy when he set his guidelines; rather, he wants to offer something better than immediate and temporary solutions. Besides, he knows the human heart and understands the agony behind the sad words if only and I wish. In those moments when Linda is tempted to trade tomorrow’s peace for today’s gratification, she remembers the visual aid her ninth-grade Sunday school teacher offered before the big freshman dance. He had called all the boys to the front row, then handed the one closest to him an exquisite red rose with the instruction, “Pull one petal and pass it on.”

Bewildered, each boy plucked a beautiful petal and then passed the flower to his classmate. When the last petal was taken and only the stem remained, the teacher had looked at the lad holding the barren rose and said, “Congratulations. That’s your wife.” Several of the students, boys as well as girls, gasped.

Even many years later, Linda was determined not to be that type of rose.

—SANDRA

Lord, the rose illustration is too dramatic for my tastes. But if it caused Linda and her classmates to think instead of being pulled into wrong decisions, then it was effective. So, help me to make decisions that will not cause pain to me or to others. Help me to seek your direction before I act.

There’s nothing wrong with being tempted. It’s what we do with the temptation that matters. —LEONARD E. LESOURD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR