By Gina Caswell Kelly
I have some lovely and delightful plants in my backyard. It is a nice colorful addition to my spectacularly green yard! Hasn’t the rain been great? My yard is so nice and green and growing so fast, I can’t keep up with the mowing. What always amazes me though, is that it seems like we need to start watering again so quickly. We get a nice rain and everything looks great, then it isn’t long until it starts to look dry again. You have to really stay with it if you want your yard and your plants, or your crops to continue to grow and look like they are supposed to.
I am sure you know where this is going. We are the very same. We need to stay hydrated to stay healthy and productive. In my mind, hydrated is a fancy new word. We used to just be thirsty and needed a drink. Now we need to stay hydrated! I guess we got a little more sophisticated with time!
But, our spiritual life is no different. If we do not regularly drink from God’s Word or spend time with Him, we begin to wilt and not be as productive as we ought to be as God’s children. Instead of us taking care of others, we begin to need others to take care of us. We need to drink from God’s Word every single day.
We need to read His Word with purpose and with a desire to grow and learn. We need to read His Word expectantly! We need to anticipate that something will jump off those pages for us each day. A word we needed to hear. A word that will encourage us in our walk with Him. I have said this before and I will say it again. God’s Word is a living book designed to encourage and teach us. It is designed to burden our hearts with the sin in our lives and burden our hearts to want to do more for Him.
In my Bible, I underline a lot and I write a lot of notes. On one page, you might find three or four different colors of ink. What that says to me is that each time I picked up God’s Word and turned to that passage, God spoke something new and fresh to me in that moment. Something I needed to hear on that day. My Bible is almost like a journal of my life, with dates and phrases written in the margins. I can look at that date and know exactly what I was going through at that time and I am reminded of the wonderful goodness of God.
This summer, as you enjoy your yard and water your plants, be reminded that your soul thirsts for God’s Word. Pull your lawn chair up in the shade of a tree and the beauty of your yard and spend time with God there. Reading, talking and listening. It will make a difference!