Time to water the plants.

Part II of Time to water the seeds. (Earlier blog) I have a good friend at work who has the biggest green thumb of anyone I know. She can grow anything! She spends hours in her yard, taking care of all her plants, making sure they all get her undivided attention. I have to say, that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this case, because her father is even better than she is. When vegetable growing season is around, she brings many vegetables from his and her garden to work. A week, or so ago, she walked in with the biggest zuchinni I had ever laid my eyes on, from her dad's garden. It was one of those "prize winning" zuchinnis you would probably see at the state fair in Iowa. It looked like a zuchinni with a sterroid problem. She also brings lots of cucumbers and tomatoes. I ate one of the tomatoes with my lunch the other day. It was heaven! It was so juicy and sweet. My tastebuds did a "happy dance" in my mouth. There is just something about home grown tomatoes that is so much better than store bought. I, on the other hand, do not have a green thumb. Nope! Ten fingers...no green thumb! I have attempted to grow things, but it seems as though I kill everything. I have two house plants that are hanging on for dear life at this point. I probably pass them up, about a hundred times a day, and yet forget to water them. I don't notice that they are there. I don't see their poor little leaves waving at me in distress. They sit there, barely hanging on, as their little leaves turn brown and fall to the floor. Not good...not goot at all. One of the first blogs I wrote, was called "It's time to water the seeds." It was about nurturing a brand new seed of faith, a new christian, a new life in Jesus. I explained how, if we neglect to water that seed..with God's word, and faithful actions, our seed will never grow into something flourishing...as a full grown plant. Well, what happens...when our seed has grown and we stand strong as a full grown christian? Do we quit watering? Do we quit growing? Do we allow ourselves a lack of spiritual nourishment? That is what I find myself doing. I have gotten too confident in my walk. My leaves are green and crisp. I stand strong and firm. Or do I? My outside looks strong, but whats going on the inside of my leaves? It seems as though I allow my spiritual walk to take the back seat. We have many bibles in the house. One sits on the coffee table. One sits on my vanity. Each of the kids have one. I probably walk passed those bibles a hundred times a day, and fail to pick one up and read it. I have lots of books on faith and spiritual nourishment, and I probably read one or two a month, but it's not the rich nourishment that I truly need. I can get by on that for a while, but eventually...my leaves will begin to wither from the inside out. They will get soft. They will wilt. They will turn brown. They will fall off. It all begins on the inside. What we see happening to the leaf on the outside, is just the end results of the leaf dieing on the inside...where we can not see. We will begin to wither on the inside, before ever seeing the results of it on the outside. I have learned a thing or two about growing a garden. My husband grows one with our children every year. I have learned that vegetables grow better outside, than inside. On the outside, they get the pure light of the sun and the clean brisk rain. Perfect nourishment. On the inside, they get artificial light and tap water. Not so perfect. The tomatoes grown on the inside, have almost a hollow taste to them. They have substance, but not much taste. The tomatoes grown on the outside, are sweet, juicy, full of flavor, full of substance, and very satisfying. Although I am an avid reader, and fully support the writing industry, I do not support artificial nourishment. Don't get me wrong, I love books about spiritual health. There are alot of great books with great substance. Books have helped me on many occasions. I am not at all discouraging the reading of a good book for life lessons, and have recently found much healing within the pages of a book. (Especially since I am writing one that I will sale in the future!) But, it will only get you so far. It will only offer artificial food, where you need pure substance. If you are reading a book to get your nourishment, your watering, your light, then you will eventually wither. We must apply that perfect, pure, sweet nourishment to our walk. God's word. If we ever get too comfortable in our walk with Him, that we don't think we need it, and we can survive with a book here and there...we are in a dangerous place. We will not grow. We will slowly begin to die from the inside out. We must feed our spiritual life the nourishment that God has prepared for us. His word will offer us the richness and sweetness our hearts need to stay strong. Stay standing upright, without wilting or withering. If we were to truly nourish our walk with God, and give Him the undivided attention He needs, we might be surprised to see how fast we grow. How fast His sweetness will come out in us. Don't do like I have done. Don't pass Him up. Stop...pick Him up, water your life, and continue growing. Grow into God! Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."