The Weekly Encourager – February 26, 2014 – African Violet

My African Violet plant had lost all its flowers and was slowly dying until a friend gave me some African Violet fertilizer. It was a revelation! The very first week, I saw a positive change, but not as I had expected. I had assumed that all the leaves might get healthier at the same rate, but instead, only the smallest leaves in the very center circle looked fresher. The rest of the plant stayed the same greyish tone. The next week the second concentric circle improved, while the center leaves stayed fresh. This continued week by week: the plant started greening up from the center out! After all the leaves were revived, the first bud appeared, and now there are four delicate flowers open, with more on the way. My son Austin's comment was that I had been feeding the plant only a subsistence diet, just barely enough to keep it alive, but it needed a real meal. Now the plant is beautiful!

The Lord showed me that this African Violet is an accurate picture of my spiritual life. If I don't get fertilizer from the Word of God, prayer, meditation, worship, and godly fellowship, I will die, too. The world around me and the sin within me will suck out all the moisture and my days will feel dry and meaningless. My tasks feel like drudgery and my relationships with others deteriorate. There's a dusty greyness to my attitude, rather than joyous expectation. The disease of sin starts curling up the edges of my leaves, and there are no flowers or fruit to be found.

Just as African Violet fertilizer is carefully crafted for that specific type of plant, the Word of God is tailored to my individual nutritional need. The Holy Spirit, who is present whenever I read, makes it a living Word that speaks straight to my inmost longing. But once is not enough. My soul-soil needs regular application of the right kind of fertilizer. Jesus prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread.” As long as I keep looking to the Lord for nourishment, I'm going to grow. But the moment I stop feeding that plant is the moment it starts dying, from the inside out.

This weekend I saw that it's not enough to go to church. After a fine service of worship on Sunday morning, while still in the building, I immediately fell into my besetting sin! Those of you who know me in person already know what this sin is, but for those of you who have never met me, I'll tell you that my greatest sin is my untamed tongue. My Big Mouth! The particular circumstance this time: I asked a friend to tell me how she felt about a trial she's facing, then as soon as she started to talk, I butted in with a criticism of her! NOT helpful, not listening, not loving. “From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.” - James 3:10 NASB I'm afraid I threw acid rather than vitamins on that person's plant. Apparently it's not enough to take part in a wonderful worship service, especially if I hold anger in my heart. I still have to be thoughtful and vigilant about my own sin. I have to be constantly aware of this overwhelming temptation, and call on the Lord to guard me every minute!

But it's not just my tongue. What's the root? “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” - Luke 6:45 ESV Well, that's pretty clear. My mouth is not good or bad of itself, it's how I use it that counts. If selfishness and strife occupy my heart and my mind, that will come out in my speech. Oh, how I need the abundant mercy of the Lord!

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “ - John 15:4 NASB Clearly I need a direct pipeline to more fertilizer. The African Violet fertilizer is applied to the soil at the base of the plant, where it is taken in by hungry roots immediately. You can see the water disappear from the saucer in a few minutes. The nourishment reaches the inner secret place of the heart first. Everything proceeds from the center. Am I starving my soul? “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” - Isaiah 55:1 Thank God for the water of forgiveness and new life found in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Have a blooming day,