Have you ever planted something and were excited to see it grow and produce, whether it was a tomato plant or flowers or a tree? If you are like me, you can’t wait to see how fast it will grow and when the blooms will come on. However, if your experience has been like mine, at times, you also know what it is to be disappointed that your hopes and efforts have not borne the fruit you expected. Whether it was due to dry weather, blight, over–or under–fertilizing, something the plant required was lacking. Then, you figured out what was needed (e.g., right amount of watering, sun, fertilizer, etc.), and the plant began to flourish!
The Bible is filled with agricultural analogies that help describe the life of both the faithful and the unfaithful. Since the ancient world was mostly agrarian, these images spoke clearly to them. Though we are not an agrarian society today, we, too, can get the gist of what is meant. Trees or plants that are watered and fed and cared for appropriately will grow. Those which aren’t, don’t. It’s as simple as that.
Psalm 1 tells us what the life of the blessed person looks like and what it takes to grow as a person blessed by God. Though not every aspect of what is required for spiritual maturity is mentioned here, a key, fundamental piece is. That is, we need God’s word in our hearts and minds if we want to grow as children of God. The challenge in our day and age is there are so many other options and distractions in our lives that sometimes we can barely think of how to fit time into our busy schedules to read, listen to, or reflect upon God’s word. Yet, the word of God is the vital spiritual “water” for our thirsty souls.
As we embark on our Rhythms journey this month, I pray you will find your soul refreshed and that new habits will form as you spend time in God’s word, prayer, and reflection. If you have not picked up a book yet, stop by the Hub on Sunday or stop by the office during the week. And, if you have not joined a Care Group yet, we’d love to help you get plugged in. Community is an additional key to the spiritual growth journey we are all on. We need each other.
I can’t wait to see how God grows each of us through this season!