About ten days ago I started to worry about the soil my accidental pumpkin patch had decided to grow itself on. Off to the side at the end of my driveway isn't a place where I'd expect to find the most nourishing soil. Some wilty looking leaves had me afraid because I've become a bit attached to my pumpkin planting now. I began to research and discovered that my pumpkins needed more than just water and any-old dirt. They needed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Not wanting my babies to starve, I went out and bought a balanced fertilizer mix. Ten days later, I'm seeing results.
Although my pumpkin patch began to grow in an unexpected place, I could not expect it to thrive without the proper nourishment. Watering it daily was a given, but I had to discover what food pumpkins need to thrive. I also discovered that there are pests that will need to be battled along the way (as well as making sure folks walking dogs don't let them pee on my roadside pumpkin patch).
Again, I see so much of myself in my pumpkin patch. I'm growing in a place I did not expect to grow but in order to thrive I need more than sunshine and rain. Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 that, "man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Eating daily of that manna, that bread of life is essential to my survival. John 6:35 tells us that He is the bread of life -- and I need the nutrients that only that heavenly Bread can provide. Prayer, to me, is the watering - it's that daily connection and communication with the Father. Like Isaiah cries out in 45:8, "Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together."
Another thing needed to grow and thrive spiritually is fellowship. We are created to need each other. Man needed woman, a suitable partner and helpmeet. We, as the body of Christ, are made up of various members uniting as a whole in service of our Head. We need to invest ourselves in each others' lives, caring for each other, watching out for each other, building each other up, praying for each other. We need fellowship, to bond together in worship and in sharing our lives. KoinonÃa is that sharing together, participating with one another in a mutual bond. I'm so blessed to have friends who lift me up and share in this life in Christ. I'm also blessed that God chose to place Eddy in my life. Eddy, who worries over those pumpkins like I do, and Zane, who wants to check on them and water them with me, have made the pumpkin patch a shared endeavor. Shared ventures seem so much more rewarding to me. Rather than being an island, I like to be an archipelago. I think life is like that. While we leave this world singularly, while we are here life is so much more enjoyable when our lives are entwined and interdependent.
Invest yourself in someone's life and open yours to being invested in by others. Invest yourself in the community of your church fellowship. Above all, invest yourself in a relationship with the Life-giver and drink in the nutrients He so abundantly provides.
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