Watering Your Life

Gardening is something that I have always enjoyed, but I’ve never seen myself as good at it. My dad is a great gardener. He can make anything grow. One time I had a tomato plant that had no life left. I took it to my dad’s house and somehow he was able to revive it and I had some amazing tomatoes that year. I used to love gardening with my dad when I was growing up because it meant I got to be outside and got to get my hands a little dirty. It was because of his work and expertise that our plants stayed alive.

I used to tell people they could send me flowers all they wanted (despite the fact that I’m highly allergic to most flowers and pretty much anything that grows outside) because I love them so much. However, I could never guarantee they would last very long. In fact, they would probably die a pretty quick death. I’ve just never been good at taking care of plants. I would either over water them or under water them. I just couldn’t seem to figure it out. I once was renting a house and my landlord asked me if I would remember to water her plants outside so that they wouldn’t die. I laughed at her and said “okay, but I’m horrible at gardening so please don’t kick me out if your plants die as my ability to garden was not listed on the lease.” Needless to say I was more excited for the rain that summer than I had ever been before, because it meant that God was taking care of her flowers with the rain and I no longer had to worry about it.

There is something special about gardening. It’s fun seeing a plant go from nothing to something. Even though I have always seen myself as not the best gardener, I have gotten more into it over the past couple of years. I love watching plants grow. I have some friends that garden and they have helped me a lot as I have learned this new trade. Last summer, I got a strawberry plant for my porch. I love strawberries (they are my favorite fruit) so I thought it would be fun to try to grow them. It helped that the plant already had some strawberries blooming on it so I essentially just had to keep watering it. It was fun to watch all of the strawberries grow that summer. I still had a lot to learn though. I had been watering my plant but not enough. My friend (who is a wonderful gardener) told me I wasn’t watering my plant enough. She said I needed to water it more because it was producing fruit. If I wanted the fruit to produce, then I needed to water it.

In the same way, we need to water our lives. If we want to grow into who God has called us to be, we need feed ourselves, just like we feed our plants and give them water. However, it is not just us that gives us the water we need, but the Holy Spirit. John 4:14 says “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The water that Jesus is talking about is the Holy Spirit. John 7:37-39 says “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

One of my co-workers gave me a spider plant because apparently they are hard to kill. She said all I needed to do was remember to water it and I should be good. I had no idea that my plant would explode the way it has. The plant started growing so much I had to move it to a different location to give it more room. When we water our lives with the presence of God, our life can grow. It can grow so much that we have to find other ways to allow ourselves to grow. It is my hope that I will continue to grow every day into more of who God has called me to be. I don’t want to be the same person I was yesterday. I want to be a new, more mature, person in Christ every single day.

If we are to grow, we need the Holy Spirit. He is the one that teaches us (John 14:6). Other words that describe the Holy Spirit in the Bible are “advocate” and “counselor.” Just like I water my plants so that they may grow, I want to water my life with the Holy Spirit so that I may grow. I hope this blesses you today. What are you doing to water your life? Be blessed.