“It is
going to be really hot while I am gone, so you are in charge of watering the
flowers in the yard”.
That is what Sara said to me at
the beginning of August just before she left town for a week. In fact, she even walked me around the yard
and showed me every last plant just to make sure that I did not miss any of
them.
“Yep! No problem!
I will water your flowers” I said.
Then I promptly forgot. Well, I did not actually forget, it just
never crossed my mind again. Watering
flowers is not normally my job and it is not part of my routine, so it just did
not get done (Ok – I forgot!).
A week later, when Sara got home,
she was not happy! Many of her carefully
tended, lovingly cared for, beautiful plants had been transformed into dry,
brown, crispy, dead sticks.
Interestingly, those plants had
everything else that they needed. They
had good soil. Their roots were
well-established. Obviously, they had
lots of sunshine and heat. However,
because I did not water them, they did not survive.
If you want something to live and
grow, you have to look after it.
Commenting on the growth of the
church in the city of Corinth, Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered
it, but God made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
While growth ultimately depends on God, I want us to notice that
“watering” is an important part of the process.
Apollos tended and cared for that new church and, because he did, God’s
blessing was evident.
Generally speaking, good things
do not just happen. Rather, they are
usually the result of an intentional focus.
An old saying reminds us that, “What you focus on, grows” and I think that
is true in every aspect of life. If you
would like to have more friends, deeper relationships, a more purpose-filled
life, a better business or even a stronger spiritual connection with God, it is
likely going to require some time, care and effort from you.
As Sara’s flowers proved, even
the most beautiful things will suffer and die if they are neglected long enough. Therefore, it is vital that we focus our
energy on what is really important to us.
What are you watering today?
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