My Thirsty Shamrock

I can’t help it. I work 12-hour shifts and I’m gone the majority of the day, often-times forgetting to water the plants. This cute little shamrock actually looked like it was going to CRY when I got home from work one night! My dear friend Edna gave it to me as a gift. I love Edna – so I couldn’t let it die!!!

“That poor little plant,” I thought, as I sat there at my kitchen table, feeling guilty as I thought about my neglect of its most basic need! I gave it a drink of water, but it still hung there, looking sad and forgotten. Recovery was clearly going to take more than a minute. That poor little shamrock plant was going to need consistent drinks of water to nurse it back to life. That was going to take some discipline on my part. Keeping house plants alive has never been one of my “talents.”

But there at my kitchen table, also sat my Bible, opened to where I had left it this morning as I drank the day’s firt cup of coffee. How ironic, I thought. What a picture!

As I remember back to the decades I wasted, never opening up that oh, so supernatural book we refer to as the Bible, I fondly remember my first “study” in the Book of Philippians with a group of women who would play a huge role in my life for years to come. It was during that “study” that I learned first-hand how supernatural the Holy Scriptures really are, and that the “God” of the Bible would SPEAK to me, intimately, personally, clearly, THROUGH His Word.

(Please don’t ever buy into the LIE that God does n0t speak to His people these days.)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

I also thought about the LIFE that was breathed into my sons’ souls the very MOMENT that they accepted Christ as their Savior. They have never, ever been the same since. I thought about the years that I would wonder if they would ever “get it,” and as I always do, I teared up thinking about the moment they called me from a mission trip to tell me that had “gotten saved,” and that they FINALLY understood what Jesus had done for them. So many nights I had laid in bed over the years, wondering if that moment would ever happen for them. Even today, they both tell me they remember me talking with them about it, (not often enough, I’m embarrassed to admit). They didn’t understand back then, but they certainly do now.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44

I thought about the thirst, the dehydration, the parched plant on my table. It was not properly nourished. It was such a perfect picture of me when I was not GROUNDED in His Word. It is much like how I feel when life gets busy and I don’t spend the appropriate TIME with Him, nestled snugly into His Word, listening intently for HIS voice.

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” John 7:37

I tenderly cared for and watered my shamrock day and night. It became part of my morning routine – Coffee, Jesus, & and water my shamrock. Soon, it grew so big and bloomed two purple flowers, necessitating a bigger pot. And wouldn’t you know, Edna had the perfect pot for her shamrock gift to me as well! Below is the most recent picture of my healthy, hydrated, shamrock plant.

Are you thirsty? Weary?

May I suggest you put your Bible where you will begin your day? Make time with HIM more important than water, than food, than putting on your make-up, or having that first cup of coffee.

He STILL speaks! He most certainly does!