When I was a little girl, my family moved from Nashville, Tennessee to Lawrence, Kansas for my father to attend Kansas University, where he would earn his Master’s degree and a P.H.D. In driving along the highways and back roads of Kansas, it was not unusual to see fields of sunflowers, after all it is the state flower!

As a child, the giant sunflowers appeared to tower over the edges of the road. I am quite certain that most would have towered over me as well. Often the fields of flowers appeared to be a sea of intense yellow and dark brown with long green stalks holding each one upright in the Kansas winds.

Recently, I heard a woman describe these amazing giant blooms as “Sun-trackers.” I found that description quite fascinating, so I decided to do some research on the sunflower. Its scientific name comes from the Greek words helios, meaning sun, and anthos,meaning flower. It is a reasonably fast-growing flower for its size, most varieties mature in only seventy to ninety-five days. The largest sunflower varieties can grow to over sixteen feet tall. Their brown centers ripen into heavy heads reaching over twelve inches in diameter and are filled with seeds. 

Still about the origin of the “Sun-tracker” designation, I read on. I discovered that sunflowers are heliotropic, which means that they turn their flowers to follow the movement of the sun across the sky from east to west and then return at night to face the east, ready again for the morning sun. 

This transition is a fundamental part of the plant’s developmental biology. As long as sunflowers are growing rapidly, adding to their biomass and leaf area, the machinery for heliotropism is fully engaged. The stem is flexible, and the internal mechanisms that drive the movement are at their peak. However, once the plant reaches maturity, its priorities shift toward the sun as the sun moves across the sky. The overall growth slows, and the plant’s resources are redirected from getting bigger to producing seeds. At this point, the stem begins to harden, becoming more stiff and woody, effectively locking the large flower head in place. The field of sunflowers now stands in resolute stillness, a silent army of giants with their faces turned uniformly to the east. The period of heliotropism has ended. The mature sunflowers have taken their final position. By facing east, the mature sunflower gains a significant reproductive advantage. This static, east-facing posture is a finely tuned evolutionary strategy to attract pollinating insects and ensure the successful production of the next generation of sunflowers. The plant sacrifices its mobility for a superior reproductive strategy, a trade-off that has proven immensely successful. (britannica.com)

As I read, I was in awe of the similarities between the flower’s growth and effectiveness, and yours and mine as Christians. When in its infancy and adolescence, the sunflower relies on the sun for its constant source of nourishment. It must follow the sun if it is to grow and mature.

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.

My Father will honor the one who serves me.” 

John 12:26

Upon giving his heart and life to Christ, my husband spent hours in the Word. Mark wanted to grow and mature in his knowledge and relationship with Christ. That daily time with God, the Son, was what nourished his spiritual growth and maturity.

…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen!

2 Peter 3:18

Once the sunflower has reached maturity, it locks in on the eastward sun and begins the process of reproduction. It is said of the flower that the plant’s resources are redirected from getting bigger to producing seeds.

We as Christians never arrive at full spiritual maturity, we are being refined and made more like Christ each and every day. But, there is a maturing process, a “growing up” that takes place as we become more like the Son. Our spiritual maturity should bring about multiplication.

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity…

Hebrews 6:1

What Britannica says is a finely tuned evolutionary strategy, has nothing to do with “evolution,” but is rather a God given design. God designed the static, east-facing posture of a mature sunflower to attract pollinating insects and ensure the successful production of the next generation of sunflowers. Now, that is a superior reproductive strategy that only the Creator of the universe could have done. God designed us, as His children, to ensure the successful production of the next generation. Your responsibility and mine, as mature Christians, is to assist in the multiplication and successful production of the next generation!

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:8