Article February 24, 1951 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from John Bishop, George H. Swift, Jack Griffiths

From a column by
Rev. John Bishop, M. A.,
in the Christian World
London, England

There is no flower more beautiful than the white pond lily. It is firmly rooted in the mud and slime at the bottom of the pond, but it rises above its origin like some white-robed angel. If you were to look at the seed and examine its offensive surroundings, you would declare that such a product from such a place would be impossible. But by a secret chemistry beyond our understanding it extracts from the mud a very miracle of beauty. What the lily does under the control of natural forces, can we not do under the guidance of the spirit of Christ? If instead of deploring our surroundings and saying that our failure is due to our lack of opportunity, we were to make the best use of what we have, we should begin to progress spiritually.

It is possible to be a Christian anywhere. Faith is a flower which can bloom on the snow-clad heights as well as in the green valleys. The more difficult its environment, the more beautiful does it grow. The more hindrances a man has in getting to Christ, the more will he find when he gets there. What Christ said of the church at Pergamos is as true today: "I know ... where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith." God knows ... where we live and work. ... If only we will look to Him for help to counteract the depressing conditions of our life, He will perfect His strength in our weakness. Of all the promises of our Lord to his church there is none finer than that to Pergamos; it is a promise to the man in a hard place: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."

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