The Color Purple

Texas may have its blue bonnets, but here in Oklahoma we are having a colorful display of purple blanketing roadsides, fields and lawns. The spreading masses are really a nettle, and are called henbit nettle. When mowing season comes, they will disappear, but for now we can appreciate the splash of color complementing the newly-green grass emerging from the dead thatch of winter.

Soon we may see purple in a drape that appears on crosses at churches, which brings to mind the purple robe put on Jesus when he was being scourged and mocked before his crucifixion.

John 19:1, Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put a purple robe on Him. They said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they hit Him with their hands.

 Purple is the color of royalty. Some say that His tormentors put a scarlet robe on Jesus. The color purple is the combination of blue and red mixed together.

Another harbinger of Spring is the bed of pansies that often border houses, even in cold  weather. They come in colors of yellow, red, purple and white, to name a few.  In the song, "April Showers," there is a line that says, "It isn't raining rain you know, it's raining vio-lets." Violet is a color similar to purple. I once had a basket of violas, miniature versions of pansies, and often purple in color.

I have seen so many accounts lately of people who have died, gone to Heaven, and come back to earth. Invariably, they tell of the beauty and depth of color in grass and flowers, unlike any color on  earth! That will be an eternal Spring for all who have put their trust in the King!