This is a picture of the Rose of Sharon shrub next to my driveway.  The flowers are beautiful.  They require little or no care, and attract Hummingbirds in large numbers.

I’m going to make a confession.  I cut one down just like it.  I did it before I realized what I had.  When we bought the house almost twenty years ago, I was determined to put my “clear the decks” personality on the property.  But, in doing so I eliminated a thing of joy and great beauty.

How many times do we do that in our lives?  We rush through life like a Jackrabbit.  We ignore things God has given us to cherish and nurture.  We ignore others to whom we have been given the responsibility to share our lives.  But we pass it all by because we just don’t slow down long enough to understand.

The book of Ecclesiastes holds a sobering reminder of our foolishness.  Chapter 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

You see, Solomon had tried it all and it didn’t satisfy.  The reality is this:  if you go through life grabbing for all you can and ignoring God’s gifts, you won’t necessarily come up empty handed but you’ll come up empty hearted.

The most important thing is to make sure we don’t rush by He who is the true Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End.