One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a red “Waxt” amaryllis flower bulb. I love it not only for its beauty, but for the fact that there was absolutely nothing that I had to do to make it bloom. (No green thumb here!) The card attached said that it was handmade, needed no water, that the bulb had enough energy for the flower, and that it was guaranteed to bloom in 3-6 weeks.  Special instructions were to avoid placing it in direct sunlight.
So I simply placed it on the shelf and started the wait period.  But 3-6 weeks just seemed to long to wait. I wanted to see it in full bloom before the end of the Christmas season. So in my anxiety to behold the beauty of the bloom, on the second week after Christmas I decided to place it, not directly under, but near a lamp. And to my delight on the next day I saw a hint of a bloom! I watched it very closely, and noticed that the bloom opened a little wider as each day passed. Today marks the third week that it has been sitting in the light of the lamp. And guess what? It’s in full bloom! I even took pictures of its daily progress, noticing that each day it leaned more and more toward the light of the lamp, so much so that the whole plant seemed to be reaching out and stretching up toward the light.
This simple observation reminded me that we cannot survive if we stay in or look directly into the sunlight. Its rays are too bright and powerful for our sensitive eyes. Looking into this sun can cause temporary or permanent eye damage. But there is another light! “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world … ”  (John 8:12a)  It’s the light of the Son, not the light of the sun that we must look to. Without the light of the Son there would be no sunlight. “… He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.” (John 8:12b)
Why not lean toward the Son Light? Focus on the Son Light.  Look directly into the Son Light. (The scriptures) Reach out and stretch up toward the Son Light. You can even walk in the Son Light! And you, too, will flourish and bloom in less time than you might think. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)

Lodenia Coleman is pastor, Campbell Chapel A.M.E. Church, Americus.