The Pollening

My car is covered in a blanket of yellow. Washing my car would be futile. It would only be yellow again tomorrow. The pollen clings to the oily residue of my fingerprints at the door. I’ve seen it before. I’ll see it again each year as long as I choose to live in Southeast Texas.

We call it “the pollening”. Everything, and I do mean everything, is powdered in a yellowish green.

I am not a botanist or a scientist (not even a little bit) but I do know pollen is necessary. It is needed for fertilization, germination, and reproduction. (I read that on Google.) We’d never have the pleasure of sinking our teeth into a big sweet peach from the Texas hill country, savoring every bite while juice runs down our arms, were it not for pollination.

Okay, now I want to take a trip to Fredericksburg for some yummy peaches! But I digress. Where was I?

Oh, Pollen!

I noticed that the yellow stuff responsible for fertilization and reproduction clung to the residue of oils I left behind on my door. So, I stopped a moment to consider.

“Oil attracts those things which produce fruit in our lives.”

Oil represents consecration or a setting aside. It also is often used to represent gladness or joy. In ancient days the more oil you had, the more prosperous you were. Hey, even today, pure oil is not cheap!

Pure Oil, the oil of gladness is not cheap. It requires something of us.

We must set ourselves aside to spend time in HIS presence. When we do so, the oil will fill our lives and ooze out of us, leaving a residue upon everything we touch.

What are you leaving behind, my friend?

Consider Isaiah 61. I can’t even begin to say this better than the great poet, Isaiah.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
“For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
 

So, be oily! And then-Get ready for the pollening!