So my friend was over and we were talking about our gardens. She says her and her mom bought some plants at the same time. She put hers in a pot and her mom put hers in the ground and now her mom's is already bearing fruit. My friend's plants look the same. Her mom's not using any fertilizer and she in fact waters her plants far less, just letting the rain do all the work. What's the difference between being planted in a pot and being planted in the ground? Between tap water and water from heaven? Wow so many metaphors could be applied. Being isolated or living in a community. Being planted in the Word or just being aware of it's existence. The fact that God knew what He was doing when He created plants and soil and rain water and the way they all work together. I guess what strikes me the most about this, is the plants in the ground are bearing fruit. The ones in the pot are OK. They're not dead. They're perfectly fine in the way of appearance but they are not bearing any fruit. On our own we'd probably be OK. We could go about our daily lives, work, play, sleep, work, play sleep, but will our lives bear any fruit? Based on my personal experience, I've tried living life on my own, not letting anyone in. I had my pot. I was "fine". I liked the way I looked and kept people at a distance. You could only come so close, but try coming into my pot and I started getting uncomfortable. Now I'm planted in God, in His Word, in my church, in a community of believers, in my family, and I can say my life is starting to bear fruit. My children, my relationships, I see fruit where there was none before. In many ways I made the choices to be planted. I surrendered myself over to His loving purposes but the awesome thing is, when you do that, the water from heave rains down and nurtures your soul in ways the artificial things in life never can. You may feel satisfied in the things this world has to offer but trust me, you won't bear much fruit.
Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
