Show pride in their personality that is so often quoted and repeated by gardeners strolling by and singing their praise; “Christmas Tree Peppers attracts bees when they bloom and songbirds when they fruit.”
🐝🐝🐝 may be depicted as diligent workers, loyal and devoted, and a source of both nourishment (honey) and potential threat (stings).
My nephew from NC sent me this little video of his garden where his Christmas Tree Pepper and a free flying Bee met for a “show and tell” video in my imagination!
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,…” (Colossians 3:23 ESV) and vs 24 “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
John 9 vs 4; “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
Songbirds love singing and so refreshing to be a bloom beneath their wings in my thoughts. I think the Psalmist agrees with me. Don’t you?
“I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit searched.” (Psalm 77:6)
1 Timothy 6:15
thedailylily.com 
Love the video from your nephew, Sara! Just watching the bee buzz, hearing him work collecting pollen from those beautiful peppers, and then hearing the birds singing is a real delight. I love God’s garden symphonies and artwork…nothing can compare!
I think the video illustrates Zephaniah 3:17, “For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Sara, you quoted, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,…” (Colossians 3:23 ESV) and vs 24 “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
That reminded me of your retreat books, “The Four Bees, Finding your Spiritual Gifts”. In it you gave some of your thoughts not only on worker bees but on worker plants. One family you spoke about was the Legume Family which consists of all kinds of different plants…beans, alfalfa, red clover, peas, peanuts, etc. You said, “We, the Legume Family Tree. Let’s make a video of one of our family gatherings. Each one of us being a small insignificant, yet remarkable, part of the family.” So, in answer to your question, “Would you like to be a Christmas Tree Pepper for The King of Kings and Lord of Lords’. Yes, I would like to be that. That plant is working hard to grow and produce those beautiful blooms for the bees to gather pollen and make honey…and then those peppers that help the songbirds sing!
The footnotes for Colossians 3:23 says: (NLT)
”Since the Creation, God has given us work to do. If we could regard our work as an act of worship or service to God, such an attitude would take some of the drudgery and boredom out of it. We could work without complaining or resentment if we would treat our job problems as the cost of discipleship.” Now, those footnotes are some good words for one to remember, as we “punch the clock”. 🤔 The bee in that video sure looked as if it was working for the Lord, didn’t it? How amazing that your nephew caught such a great video! I remember being blessed to attend that retreat Debi mentioned above and I was amazed to learn all about those worker bees 🐝 and all the awesome things God created for us to not only enjoy but learn from. 🙏
Thanks Debi and Tammy for the encouraging words. When we read and share with others I find it makes a larger family as Debi mentioned, family, and the, work notes, Tammy shared reminding us to whom we are working for.
About an hour or so ago I was doing errands and talking with people about the trials of working today with shortage of people, supplies and in general the stress. I had in my ‘hearts pocket’ this blog from nephew, Debi, Tammy and the life giving scriptures we are sharing to guide us and the joy it brings. I thought I’m hearing the stress and how does my empathy help. Because my hearts’s pocket was overflowing from words given here focused on work as for the Lord I had our blog to share. WOW! Sharing is caring and I sure cared and my sharing empathy, thoughts and prayers takes on Bee Wings and the buzz is heard when I share our blog. Why? Because it’s God’s Truth! Tammy thanks Debi for reminders from a retreat workshop and Tammy replies that we learned “all about worker bees 🐝 and all the awesome things God created for us to not only enjoy but learn from. 🙏” And, I add learn and share. Because when we share, “you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) Also read vs10, 11 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Don’t forget to share and share a lot to have joy for you and those you love and where your empathy, and hope can thrive. Bees provide Honey and we provide Joy plus!
Sara, you asked us to, “Also read vs10, 11 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
I think this builds on your previous blog, Read, believe, live which says in it, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”—Hebrews 4:12 (NRSVUE) and, “The Bible, the Word of God is full of great mysteries and rainbow promises. They are there for you and me and all that desire to know God.” (that Christmas Tree Pepper sure has a rainbow of colors!)
As I read Isaiah 55 that Sara referred to above, and re-watched the video, I thought that bee gave us a good example of vs.6 : “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” God gave the bee the ability to seek the pollen as He made the pepper plant to produce it. The obedient bee did the seeking and successful gathering for honey as well as the work of pollination so fruit could develop.
it’s so exciting to daily walk with the Lord and chat about our schedules and work and about others also.
Think about this we can talk about one another for hours with the Lord and not have to be guilty of gossip! WOW! Is that correct! This came to my mind from Debi’s post.