Buckle up buttercup is a phrase I’ve heard often. It is two terms that are a bit opposite. When we buckle up, we are getting prepared. For instance, many years ago it became a requirement for those riding in an automobile to wear a seat belt. I remember when those laws were enacted. As with most laws, there was a lot of push from both sides. One side didn’t like the idea of someone telling them what to do in their own car, they felt it was uncomfortable and refused to use them. Those for the law saw the value of saving lives by wearing a seatbelt. Laws were passed and it is a very common thing to buckle your seatbelt in America. The term buttercup refers to one who is weak, soft, harmless, or lacking confidence.
While we may be referred to as a buttercup in the sense that we are weak or lack confidence, I would like for us to look at it from another aspect. A buttercup is a flower that blooms early in the year. Many times, it shows up while the chill of winter is in the air. I have several planted around our property and come January I will start seeing their pointy green stems appear through the soil. These flowers, by which their name is used in a negative sense, are one of the strongest flowers on the market. I believe we can learn much from the buttercup.
First, it doesn’t take much warmth or light for them to appear. They push upward toward the sun. They capture every ounce of light possible and store it for present and future growth. We too should be capturing, storing, and pushing forward toward the Son. The one true eternal light is available 24/7 to all who will believe. Jesus is the Light of the world. We are to push toward Him just as the buttercup pushes toward the sun. A buttercup must have many hours of sunlight to survive and grow. It doesn’t waste any opportunity to soak up the sun. Neither should we. God’s word is available to anyone who is reading this.
John 1:6-9 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Second, the buttercup is resilient. To be resilient is to be able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations. After the buttercup blooms, it begins to store food for the next year’s bloom. As it stores up nutrients, what you see begins to wither and die, but what you don’t see is the root getting stronger. This allows the buttercup to not only be ready for the next year, but it reproduces itself with extra nutrition. We as Christians need to be resilient. Nothing should deter us from becoming stronger in Christ. As we grow, we will become stronger, and we are to reproduce ourselves in others.
I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
II Thessalonians 3:9 “Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us.”
Titus 2:3-5 “The aged women likewise, that they are in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
Scripture makes it very clear we are to be resilient, bouncing back no matter what hits our lives. Our hope is in the one who gave us life and He will supply the stamina. We are to be grooming ourselves to be as Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1. We are to follow Christ so closely that when others follow us, they are following Christ.
I Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Third, there are over 250 species of buttercups, but there is only one genus to determine if the flower is a buttercup. While the Bible makes it clear that we are all different in many aspects of gifts, levels of growth, and inherent physical abilities, we all have the same start, the same base. No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Forth, buttercups all have certain distinguishing characteristics that allow us to know they are a buttercup. There are also certain characteristics that a true Christian will have so that others will know that we are His. We will love the brethren. Those who have the same base, Jesus Christ, will love one another and it will show in their lives.
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.”
There will be evidence of our good works.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
People will know we belong to Christ because we are following His steps.
Matthew 4:19-20 “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”
So, are you buckled up and ready to go and be the best you can be as a Christian? Are you soaking up the Son? Are you resilient? Are you the “real deal,” and not a knockoff buttercup? Are you seeking to reproduce yourself, so that others will walk after Christ?
