A Lesson from Watering a Small Plot of Land

Texas has experienced a really difficult stretch of drought this year that has affected much. A very small piece of land that has been affected is the one right outside my office that sits in between our worship center and our youth/children's building. This area has taken a beating from our youth boys playing an interesting baseball type game and the ever incessant brutal heat of a star we commonly call the sun. Over the last couple of weeks, I decided to see if I could at least green this area up again since it is the first thing people see as they walk up to our buildings.

What I have noticed and am currently right now witnessing is an interesting gathering outside my window. Every time I run the water, a gathering of birds come and just sit on the grass and let the water fall on them as they drink and enjoy the refreshing reality of water. As I type this, I see Mockingbirds, Sparrows, Cardinals, Hummingbirds, Crows, and sometimes a Blue Jay or two sit and soak themselves. This thought came to me this morning: This small strip of land is a picture of how the church should be and in certain places - actually is.

Jesus said these words at a very strategic festival in Israel: "If anyone thirsts, let Him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'." (John 7:37-38). Thirsty people long for water, and when they find it, they get in it and let it wash all over them. They will even gather with others who are of different sizes, types, and colors. The birds outside don't seem to mind they are around others who are different from them. It is their thirst for the water and the enjoyment of it that makes them in common with one another.

This common thirst for real life is one of the main reasons I love the local church. Thirsty people for the presence of God and for something bigger than us, this thirst moves us to come together in a certain place. Even with all of our different backgrounds , races, and experiences that out in the world seem to divide us, they now fade away in light of the greatness of Jesus and the all satisfying nature of who He is.

The birds are getting their fill and in a few minutes when I turn the water off, they will move on to wherever it is they normally do life. They will move on though, filled and equipped to live life in a more satisfying way.

This picture today also reminds me that as a pastor, I must lead in such a way that the all satisfying nature of Jesus is why people gather at LifePointe. If the gathering is about anything else, then we will not unite and get filled by the only thing that lasts. Church must be about Jesus and helping people come to him so they can drink. It is in the drinking of His nature and belief in Him that will lead to the Holy Spirit to awaken the flow of the river of God in and out of our hearts. This is my aim in my calling. Anything less than this will not satisfy and should not take a prominent place in the local church.

I pray we never lose sight of this.