Coming back home from my walk one morning last week, I had to “stop and smell the roses.” On the corner of my neighbor’s property was the prettiest pink rose bush. I call it an “old timey rose bush.” It is like what my mom had in back of our home when I was growing up. Sometimes I would even pick one and place it in my hair. Precious memories!

How many times do we actually “stop and smell the roses? Oh, I don’t mean actual roses, but spiritual roses. So many distractions and issues can keep us from taking the time to stop and read God’s Word and even to be reminded of precious memories He has given us; precious blessings of answered prayer and perhaps the help and strength he had provided when we were at our weakest point or going through troublesome times. Sometimes we forget about the things God has done for us in the past and when we’re faced with something different, we think God doesn’t care or God can’t help us with this, or we don’t think about God at all because “we can handle it.”

God’s word is like a rose garden – sweet and to be enjoyed. Sure there are thorns, but don’t we need them, too; to prick our hearts, convict us of sin, and lead us in the right direction? I hope you will daily “stop and smell the roses” in God’s precious Word and let it guide and encourage you and, yes, let it prick your heart.

“How sweet are your words to my taste…..Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:103a, 105