Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Plants Need Water

Anyone who  knows me knows that I'm not the best when it comes to fixing cars, building things, or planting gardens. In fact, the more I think about it, I don't know if I have that many skills at all! However I have taken on this task of caring for a couple of plants that we bought in the spring. With Katrina being pregnant she can't get to the hanging plants to water them, so I made this my chore for the summer. We have had plants like this before but they always die. We never remember to give them the water they need to live. Not so this year. I was determined to do the job. 

I have learned some valuable spiritual lessons from my job as caretaker of the plants. The first several weeks I was noticing that the plants were starting to wither, so I gave them more water. Regardless of how much water I gave they were stilling fading fast. I was dumbfounded by why they weren't flourishing. I soon discovered that I was over-watering the plants. They were getting more water than they could have drawn out

I think this can be said of us too. Sometimes we pour and pour more information and knowledge in to ourselves. Whether its bible knowledge, sermons, studies, or something else, we are rarely having as much of it applied and lived out before we put more in. We are often over-watered as Christians, and the result is the same as not getting enough water: we wither. Some of you would not be over-watered people, but under-watered. You don't get nearly enough of the things you need to sustain you and grow you. You don't pray, read the Scriptures, participate in the community faith, or share life with others. As a result you are withered because you are expending more than you are having put in. 

What do you think would describe you? Are you over-watered or under-watered? There can be value life lessons learned from the everyday moments. Something as simple as watering plants can teach us a little bit about God and ourselves. 

2 comments:

  1. Sometimes, I am underwatered, when I tend to believe I have enough knowledge to carry on, and that is when I usually slack off the Word and Prayer. Then there are times I have over watered with knowledge and theorized that I am learning by stuffing my head in a good book...but generally I am reading for the pleasure of agreeing and not with the actual application of what I am learning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. great analogy! for me the challenge is living in that tension. its hard to find balance.

    ReplyDelete