Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. –John 7:38
Only the plants which are indigenous to drought conditions remain in our neighbor’s front yard. What’s left of the grass is brown and the dirt has hardened to cement. Each morning as I drive past the desert-like yard, I can’t help but wonder why the watering has ceased. Could it be busyness, fatigue, laziness or necessity? I have discovered that in this case, the root cause of drought conditions is the fact that the amount of money needed to water a green and flourishing yard is simply out of the question. The burden of paying the electricity, gasoline and food bills takes precedence over healthy grass and budding flowers.
I was quick to realize the implication this scene had in my own life: That which I fail to water will dry up, harden, and die. Scripture says, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him,” John 7:38. So I had to ask myself, what in my life is dying due to lack of water, and what am I feeding and watering that needs to be parched and starved?
Do my relationships need sprinklers? Any relationship worth keeping requires commitment and communication. In order to nourish my relationship with my husband, I need to plan daily connections through conversation and touch. If I choose each night to sit in front of my computer instead of next to my mate, we will begin to grow apart as opposed to growing closer. The virtual relationships I’ve created via social media sites need to experience a season of drought. I need to spend less time in the virtual world, investing time in shallow or fake friendships, but rather invest more time in face-to-face encounters.
Is my spiritual life dehydrated? Am I heaping gallons of water on my desire to please others because of the need for affirmation or am I confirming my identity in Christ by reading His Word? I need to remind myself that working at a church and serving in a ministry cannot take the place of spending time reading the Bible, meditating on scripture, and putting into practice that which I learn.
Driving past my neighbor’s yard each day is a constant reminder that I need to make moment by moment choices to give breath, life, and water to those areas in my life which are pleasing to God and surrender those areas which have been soaked and over watered and don’t contribute to intimacy with Christ.
In any case, that which I water is sure to grow. I need to monitor my watering can.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Where is your drought? In what area of your life are the sprinklers failing to water?
2. How can you successfully water your relationships and spiritual life?
FURTHER READING:
John 15:5, Philippians 4:8