What you water grows

In The Journey of August King, the main character is telling a run a way slave girl about his now dead wife.
August: In the last two years it was kind of like we forgot about each other.
Annalees: Did you love her?
August: I guess I did because I miss her so much.

It was kind of like we forgot about each other. Have you ever found yourself feeling that way about someone you once cared so very much for? I’ve heard people say, “We grew apart,” or “I was holding her (him) back.” The truth is, most of us have experienced times, perhaps seasons, when we have been less than totally invested in a relationship. And yet we all know one of life’s deep secrets: “What you water, grows.” Relationships need watering and nurturing. They need sunlight and air to breathe.

This is true of our relationship with God too. It grows when we nourish it. It withers when we ignore it. It was not just that the people of God rebelled against him time after time. They neglected to thank Him for his provision and protection. They just kept forgetting He was there…until they needed him again. Have you ever felt that way? That you had drifted away and any thoughts of God had faded away to the nether regions of your mind? In His place, you had surrendered your priorities to so very many other things? Or maybe you regularly give God a piece of your time and energy, but you’ve not discovered the sustaining joy of giving Him your all? I wonder if this is actually the most common experience of all men and women. It is not that we find ourselves against God; we just forget about Him for awhile, and sometimes very long whiles.

There is a cure for this and we shouldn’t mistake its simplicity for its power: Draw close. It has been said that you can walk a thousand steps away from God, turn around and find Him just one step away. How is that possible? Because He is always pursuing you, so great is His love. I wish that were always true of human relationships. We are all agents of free will, able to extend or withdraw the hand of love to those who pull away from us. Some say the greatest things in life are to love and to be loved. Even when someone else withholds love, what sense does it make to throw away the opportunity to keep extending love? Never give up on love.

What you water grows, in you and in others. Water love and it blossoms somewhere. Water neglect and it spreads all over like weeds. Wherever there is opportunity, commit yourself to loving well. Grow ever closer to God and you will find more and more opportunities and abilities to grow closer to others in your life.

Don't be shellfish...