“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. (Okay, 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?
