James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Flowers are beautiful this time of year. Some have been in bloom for awhile; others have just begun to put on buds. The gardens around the area are just blossoming with blooms of all colors, shapes, forms, and sizes. The avid gardener just can't get enough of flowers blooming at the same time. One flower just calls for another. Ask my Mom! She has flowers all over the place! There's not a spot in her yards that you won't find one blooming flower this time of year! There are hanging baskets all over the place - in the trees, under the carport, and on the porch! And she's gotten me into the habit again, after many years of no flowers around our home.

Flowers have to be tended, watered, and fertilized. Without the proper treatment, they will shrivel up and die, or refuse to put on blooms. Sometimes they will bud, but the buds drop off before opening. Too much water can kill them; too much or too little fertilizer can either burn them up or stunt their growth.

Our spiritual life is a little like flowers. It needs tending to constantly. It needs feeding, watering, and fertilizing often. We feed our spirit by going to church, listening to the Word being preached and taught. We water our spirit by reading the Word, getting deep into it and waiting on the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to the meaning of each passage. We fertilize the WORD we've taken in by constantly keeping up with our reading and listening to the Holy Spirit. Daily reading and studying will give you the fertilize you need in order to have the Word ready when you need it, in case of trials or problems in your life.

Just like the flowers, if the 'correct balance' of nutrients isn't given to your spirit, then you will not grow, bud, and blossom into the Christian God intended you to become.

Copyright 2005 by Barbara Sanders, Empire, AL. Used by permission.
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