Wednesday, November 2, 2016

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. 

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