Gather Ye Rosebuds?

Good morning,

If you are a woman, chances are that at some time in your life you have received flowers for some occasion.  Perhaps they were from an admirer, or from your Dad.  Or perhaps they were sent as a condolence on the loss of a loved one.  Regardless, there is no greater picture of impermanence than a beautiful flower.  Though a reminder of God's infinite imagination in creation, it also reminds us of the briefness of our own lives.

Some sad souls, not realizing their extreme spiritual poverty, live their one life on this earth as if this fleeting, mortal life is all there is.  This belief system is typified in the 17th century poem by Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time".  Here is the first stanza.  (Miss Hallford made us study this poem in Honors English all those years ago....)

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

No doubt we should make the most of our time in between our conversion to Christianity and our last breath.  That is inarguable.  But, this life is not the end, nor is it the be-all.  Here, at the end of the first chapter of his letter, Peter disabuses readers of the notion that this life is all for which we should live.

22-25 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,

    its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;

Grass dries up, flowers droop,

    God’s Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

In contrast to the flowers, which are here today and gone tomorrow, what is permanent?  The Word of God is everlasting.  It was by His Word (His Son) we were "spiritually conceived", and by His Word we are kept saved through all eternity.  His Son is God's Living Word.  The Bible is God's written revelation to us, our guidebook as we travel through this life.  Many have tried to destroy it, but it has seemingly miraculously survived for centuries, virtually unchanged!  The Bible is the most trustworthy, scholarly accurate, well-preserved book in all of human history.  We are promised that this Word will not be ineffective or "return to God empty" (Isaiah 55:11).  It is a supernatural book.

As followers of Christ, bearers of His Truth to a dying world, how should we then live?  We find the answer here in verse 22:  "love one another fervently, from a pure heart" (NET).  The apostle John devotes whole chapters to this theme in his book of 1 John.  Does this not also echo the command of Jesus, from Matthew 22:36-40?  This is, according to Jesus, "the second commandment".  What does that mean, to love "from a pure heart"?  It means that we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ and then this lost world without hope of personal gain in the loving. Love is, by definition, sacrificial.  It is a "giving" to someone else.  There are two Greek words for "love" used in verse 22. Let's look at the verse in the NIV:

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love (Greek - "philadelphian") for your brothers, love (Greek - "agapesate") each other deeply, from the heart.

In Greek there are three words for "love" - - - "eros", "phileo" and "agape".  The first one, not used in this passage, refers to physical, erotic love.  The second refers to "brotherly love" and the third to "the sacrificial love demonstrated by God", utterly selfless.
So, Peter is saying here, it is well and good that you love your brothers and sisters in the faith with a phileo love; now, go a step further and love them sacrificially, fervently, modeling the way that God Himself loves us, His children.

Maybe we should think of each act of sacrificial love as ... a rosebud?

Father, teach us to love each other, as You have loved us, with that highest of loves, that agape love. Through Your Word You have declared that type of love toward us:  "But God demonstrated His love ("agape") for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).  May we demonstrate that we are Your people through our loving acts today.  In Jesus' name, amen. 

Sources:
http://www.bartleby.com/101/248.html