Last week, my kiddos picked this bunch of flowers and surprised me. Lily of the valleys have a beautiful smell and their white dainty petals are just so pretty.
About 30 minutes later, the lily of the valley bouquet became a perfect visual. The fun and joy took a turn when they ate some candy they knew they weren’t supposed to and were overcome with guilt. The Holy Spirit prompted them to be honest and confess…oh to be 10 and 7, and have the guilt of snuck candy! Can you remember some of those moments in your youth? My oldest was wrecked, feeling like she led her younger brother into the sin, and she felt awful and couldn’t quite shake it.
The beautiful bunch of flowers was a great reminder of Jesus’ saving grace, and how he cleanses us, white just like the lilies. Song of Solomon 2:1 is a foreshadowing of Jesus, being called the Lily of the Valley, and wow, are there parallels to this beautiful flower and our beautiful savior. Jesus, like the lily, bears much fruit and shows us how to be fruitful. When I was looking into other scriptures that talk about the lily of the valley, I found that historically these flowers were also called the ‘ladder to heaven’. The way the buds are layered on the stem makes them appear to be stacked like a ladder, and how fitting that the flower that Jesus is identified with, is also the way to heaven.
Jesus is white and pure, and he wants nothing more than to save us from our sin and cleanse us. He wants us to be clothed in white and free from the darkness of sin. The bright white color of the lily shows his purity and righteousness.
Your sin might look different than mine, and different than sneaking candy… but in God’s eyes, sin is all the same – separation from him and his ways. We like to categorize sin on earth, based on our morals, based on the consequences they bring… sometimes we measure sin like we do skyscrapers – by assigning a size. But God looks down at skyscrapers and they all look the same from his vantage point.
The lies, the stealing candy, the gossip, the pride… it’s all unrighteousness that he wants to forgive and free us from. He wants us to walk in light and be made white and pure. I’m so glad he made a way for us to do this and to free our hearts and minds of the weight of sin! To have everlasting life through believing in Jesus and confessing him as Lord.
Do you feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to confess sin in your life? Will you allow Jesus to cleanse your heart and make it white like the lily of the valley?
