Pretty or Poisonous?

Black-eyed Susans, plains coreopsis, and purple coneflowers are all types of flowers an individual may see driving along the Mississippi highways.

Every wildflower I see reminds me of the passage found in Matthew chapter 6, explaining how we should choose faith over fear. I have written about this reminder in the past, and you can see that blog here. However, my recent wildflower encounter took a break from teaching me about my ever-present worries.

Instead, I learned about weeds disguised as flowers while driving with my 19-year-old sister.

After graduating from high school, she has made it her mission to learn everything she can about plants, flowers, trees, and other similar subjects. This week, as we drove along the highway, we discussed some of the pretty wildflowers that we noticed. She quickly listed and spotted a few of those flowers mentioned above.

Suddenly, I noticed a beautiful white flower standing tall on a green stem.

“That one is so beautiful,” I exclaimed.

The flower’s round, circular cluster of small white flowers stood out among the green grass.

“That one may be poisonous,” she quickly explained.

From a road’s eye view, she couldn’t tell if the flower we saw was a Queen Anne’s lace flower or Poison Hemlock.

One is a delicate, harmless flower that can add some pop to a wildflower bouquet.

The other is a poisonous weed that can harm and even kill living creatures if too much is ingested.

Cleveland Clinic explains that forms of hemlock were a famed choice of poison among ancient Greeks. It stated that “[they] used poison hemlock to execute criminals or political prisoners. The most famous example of this is the execution of Socrates.”

The USDA shared that when it comes to livestock, “Poison-hemlock ingestion frequently is fatal. … Signs usually appear within an hour after an animal eats the plant. Animals die from respiratory paralysis in 2 to 3 hours. ….”

The USDA further described that all parts of the Hemlock plant are poisonous. The stem, leaves, flowers – every single thing about it is harmful.

My sister also clarified that when it comes to the wide world of plants, it is crucially important to know the difference between pretty and poisonous.

The same can be true about our Christian walks and lives as believers.

In modern-day Christianity, due to the pressure to keep up appearances, it can often be challenging to distinguish between a genuine and a superficial relationship with the Lord.  

It may seem easy to attend church on Sundays, read the Bible every night before bed, pray, and share faith-based experiences online with friends and family. With the click of a button, we can show our emotions and our feelings about everything to the watching world.

If we try hard enough, we can make our faith look as pretty and polished as that harmless wildflower.

In the meantime, the Lord is looking deeper.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, He explained exactly what He was looking for to Samuel … and it wasn’t a perfect Instagram caption.

 “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

He sees and He knows the deepest part of us – our hearts.

To the world, we may look like the world’s most outstanding Christian. But if we are not serving the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength – and just keeping up with our obligatory “Christian” tasks – we are actually harming our relationship with Him.

Until we come to know, meet, and trust Him in all of our ways, no number of good deeds or sharing Bible verses online will ever be good enough. He knows our hearts and is watching to see what fruit we produce.

So, how do you tell the difference between poison hemlock and Queen Anne’s lace?

You look closely.

You examine its branches, leaves, flowers, and everything in between to reveal the truth, just like its creator.

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit (John 15:2).