Eagerly Awaiting The Glorious Day of His Appearing

Each March I wait eagerly for the appearance of the crocus.  The crocus is a perennial that sprouts from a corm, a rounded underground storage organ of the plant that consists of a swollen stem base covered with scale leaves.

Whenever I see the first crocus I feel like a kid again, who with eager expectation, has patiently endured the bitter winter once again only to be encouraged by the appearing of this little jewel of a flower.

This precious little flower has been sought after for centuries as one particular species dons  the favored buttery spice saffron on its long crimson stigma.

A stigma plays a pivotal role in a flower's reproduction.  The stigma of a flower is usually covered with a sticky substance that acts as a landing zone that traps pollen by hairs, folds and a waxy substance.  Once trapped here the pollen travels down a tube and fertilizes the flower's ovule.

Interestingly enough the dictionary provides 2 definitions for stigma:

1. stig·ma

   ˈstiɡmə/

   noun

   1. 1. 

      a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

      
      

      "the stigma of having gone to prison will always be with me"

      
      

      synonyms:

      shame, disgrace, dishonor, ignominy, opprobrium, humiliation, (bad) reputation
   2. 2. 

      (in Christian tradition) marks corresponding to those left on Jesus’ body by the Crucifixion, 

Jesus definitely had several marks of disgrace placed upon him before, during and after His crucifixion but despite the stigma associated with His death, His blood, like the threads of the crocus, was used to give His followers a distinctive fragrance and flavor all their own.

For he took the marks of shame, disgrace, dishonor, ignominy and humiliation upon himself that we would not have to live under the weight of our sin.  His death freed us from the stigma of our sin and it was by His crimson red blood that we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 1:7

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

We are not only set free but our lives our enriched and flourish as a result of God's great sacrifice for us.  And like the crocus, we have a fragrance that is of great worth.

2 Corinthians 2:14-5

But thank God!  He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession.  Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.  Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.  

I see in the crocus the preciousness of my Savior's sacrifice but I also sense that sweet savor of the saints, who God uses to preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ's authority, knowing that God is watching us as well as the angels.

Romans 8:19-21

For all creation is waiting eagerly for the future day when God will reveal who his children really are.  ... But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

I will with even more eager expectation wait for the appearance of the crocus each spring as I look forward to that glorious day when the dead of winter will be warmed by the Son of God and death and decay will be a shadow of the past.