Water

As I went to do some transplanting, the soil reserve under my garden sink was, as they say, bone dry. Now bone suggests substance but this was practically dust. Gone was the weight, the texture and cohesive solidity; all because there was no water. 

I had never seen such disintegration. That really gave me pause. 

...the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God... 2Peter 3:5

It sounds lame to just say water is vital. But it is. I never realized how vital until I poured water over that bucket-full of dusty, weightless potting soil. Not wanting it to overflow, I poured gingerly. The water disappeared. More. Disappeared again. I did this a few times, but each time it seemed to vanish! finally I just poured it on and stirred. Not only did it not overflow, the soil level shrank!!! The water entered the soil which became weighty once again and compacted together, shrinking in size! No fluff and stuff.  Now it could once again be handled without flying away, it could once again hold down a plant, it could once again bring life. 

I saw the truth of it: when the water of life is in us, it is self-effacing, blending in with who we are and we, in turn, become who we were meant to be; we also take up less space (less self-importance); we are more compacted (in unity with other believers by not demanding our own); more weighty (having more substance, more life) and more able to support a plant (able to be used, caring about life other than our own).

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations... 

Revelation 22:1-2

None of this would be possible without water. There would be no life, no healing. The water I poured over my soil is of course not the eternal, unseen kind, but I got the picture. Without the water of the Word, I am a shell. Dust. Not able to bring life.  

And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Luke 8:6

Moisture: water. I am stunned. Now I really need to know how to drink this water. More later. 

About Light...

A few days ago, I got busy caring for some very old and very precious wooden shoes.

Here they are

As I sprayed the protective layer over the painted surfaces, I noticed how much depth the coating gave. The colors jumped to life as the pattern came into focus. There was such beauty in that clarity... 

Yet the little wooden shoes hadn't changed, they were just covered in reflective light. How I saw them had changed. 

Remembering how wax and oil products were used for this purpose, my heart began to lift off. So as the little shoes lay drying, I rushed over to the Old Testament for references on Oil which, I was taught and still believe, is an emblem of the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

In Biblical times, various forms of oil were used to cleanse, nourish, protect, beautify and give light. My heart soared as I read the words of Psalm 36:9 (NLT): 

"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see"

and again in Isaiah 61:3 (ESV)

"...to give them.... the oil of joy for mourning..."

knowing God's aim Ecclesiastes 3:9 

"He has made everything beautiful in its time..."

The lesson was clear: as we give ourselves to Him (actively -but that is another page) as we allow Him to shed His light on us (nothing is hidden from his light - going right to our hearts), inspect us (I see the God initiated process of repentance - even for so-called small things), as we allow Him to cover us (because we have run to Jesus), He cleanses us (yes, yes!), He protects us (thank you LORD) and even beautifies us (He is a miracle worker). 

All things point to it that God is good.