dry

i have been out of town for 13 of the past 20 days.  after i got back from my second trip, i realized my lawn was turning brown and looked horrible.  i’ve always prided myself in having a much greener, healthier, more robust lawn then both of my neighbors (especially the one on the left).  as i investigated, i found out that our sprinkler system was broken.  so, for the past week, i’ve had to go out early in the morning and water the lawn and shrubbery (what a great word, say it with me “shrubbery”).  the daily watering takes about 15-20 minutes.  i’ve already noticed a huge improvement, and my little, tiny (socal) lawn is coming back to life again.  i had a guy come over and identify the sprinkler problem and he will be fixing it in the next few days.  from that point on, it will totally be taken care of automatically and i will not have to go out, crank up the hose and saturate the ground.

all of this got me thinking… if we don’t take 15-20 minutes each day to water the soil of our heart with God’s word and prayer - we dry up.  how many time have we put our spiritual life on “auto-mode” because we fail to recognize the importance of watering our lives with God’s life-giving word.  ”auto-mode” is set to water us once a week at church, but that is definitely not enough (not even close).  i wish we could simply look in the mirror and see that we need more God, but we can’t.  deep down we know we do.  we know we have dry places and burn spots that need to be drenched with the water of the word.  His word causes us to flourish, His Spirit brings new life to us daily.  how many of us are in a self-inflicted drought?  how many of us are honest enough to admit that we are dry spiritually (because we’re not seeking God daily).  

“he finds joy in the word of the Lord and he thinks about it day and night.  this man is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time and its leaf never dries up.  whatever he does will work out well for him.”  psalm 1:2-3 (nlv)

 

excerpts from psalm 119:

“my soul is laid in the dust.  give me new life because of your word.”

“i will never forget your word for by it you have given me new life.”

“oh, how i love your word.  it is what i think about all through the day.”

“how sweet is your word to my taste!  it is sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

“your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

“the opening of your word gives me light.  it gives me understanding.”

“i love your word more than gold, more than pure gold.”

“your word is my joy.”

“those who love your word have great peace, and nothing will cause them to be hurt in their spirit.”

“i will never forget your word.”