What’s your favorite color? Chances are, if you are like the largest percentage of the population, it’s blue.
If you are a gardener, you are not in luck, if that’s the case. True blue color is not that common in the plant world. The color blue occurs in less than ten percent of the plant world’s 280,000 flowering species, according to a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University in Miami.
Blue spruces are really gray-green, with a hint of blue. “Blue Lady” hellebore is really dark burgundy or purplish. And if you have ever been duped by photo-shopped advertisements for blue roses, you will already know that blue does not exist in that species. The best that can be hoped for is a blue cast on a lavender colored rose.
This is not to say that blue is impossible to find in other plants. I have had some lovely clear blue colors in Virginia bluebells, dwarf comfrey, and bachelor’s buttons, to name a few. Borage, delphiniums, and irises are other favorites where a true blue color can be had.
In order for a plant to appear blue, it must contain a plant pigment called anthocyanins, which are not prevalent in nature.
The phrase “true blue” is used commonly to represent loyalty. As rare as the color is in the plant world, it seems it is even harder to come by in people.
Have you ever been abandoned by a friend or family member that you had considered to be a true blue person that you could always count on? We all have. “Fair weather friends” are here when everything is sunny and great, and disappear when the least little cloud of sadness or trouble appears.
This is why God’s loyalty to us is so rare and valuable, especially given the fact that He doesn’t need anything from US, ever.
Many will abandon God when circumstances change or they grow tired of him, but that’s not the case with our Father’s devotion to us. He is true blue like no other!
“He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5b, NASB).
Over and over throughout the history of God’s people, God has remained faithful regarding his promises, in spite of his people being quite fickle in their loyalties.
“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You” (Psalm 9:10).
For such a loyal friend, we should be there for God whenever he asks something from us.