God loves us just as we are. But there’s a problem. Neither you nor I are what God created us to be—and it would be a tragedy for God to leave us as we are.
Consider the humble seed. Humble, yes, but upon closer examination a seed is a marvelous thing—marvelous in potential. For locked away in a seed is the blueprint for something far greater.
For instance, the seeds of Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) and Sequoia giganteum (Giant Sequoia) weigh almost nothing—between 1/8000th to 1/5000th of an ounce. Yet, they have the marvelous potential of growing into living skyscrapers, 30 feet wide at their base and over 350 feet tall—as tall as a 40-story building—and 65 billion times their original seed weight!
With the possibility of becoming so great and awesome, wouldn’t it be tragic for the little seed to remain just a little seed? Truly, God loves the little seed just as it is. It is His own creation. But God’s earnest desire is that the little seed becomes the mighty Sequoia He created it to be.
In the Scripture the Apostle Paul compares the potential of seeds to human beings and their potential for becoming something beyond their wildest dreams. As he writes about God’s plan to consummate our salvation through Christ at the resurrection, St. Paul says:
“Some skeptics are sure to ask, ‘Show me how the resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?’
“If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed.
“What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different” (1 Cor. 15:35–38, The Message).
There is little likeness between the tiny Sequoia seed and the awesome tree it can become. Yes, in the same way there is little likeness between the frail and puny people we are now and the glorious creation God wants to make of us.
Certainly God loves you as you are. But don’t you see how tragic it would be for God to leave you as you are? This is why your Heavenly Father calls you to take His almighty hand and let go of our own petty plans and short-sighted dreams. He calls you to let Him lead you on an adventure that will take you from the life of an aphid to that of an archangel.
St. Paul told us that all of us have sinned and fallen hopelessly short of the glorious being He created us to be (Rom. 3:23). But Christ living in our hearts and directing our lives is our hope of attaining to the glory God prepared for us (Col. 1:29).
PRAYER:
Dear heavenly Father, please take me as I am, cleanse me from my sins, fill me with the presence of Christ, guide my steps, and transform me into His glorious image. Amen.
In article photo by Vladimir Kudinov on Unsplash
