In my last article, I shared information about a date palm tree, named Methuselah, (because Methuselah in Genesis lived 969 years). This palm grew from a seed found in a jar in the cliff caves near the Dead Sea. The seed was at least 2,000 years old. How does a dried-up date pit, that has sat in a cave for a couple thousand years, come to life? It is the wonder of being alive that fascinates me.
This morning, I cut open a cantaloupe. There were so many seeds packed into the center that it looked weird. My first thought was the wonder of multiplication. Each seed could bring forth a long vine of several cantaloupes, and each cantaloupe would be full of seeds. I cannot imagine the amount of fruit produced if each seed was planted and then each of those new seeds grew into more vines with more fruit. It ultimately would be like the stars in the sky!
Romans 1:20 tells us that we can see God's nature and character by looking at what He made. It would be fun to gather all of us together and discuss what we see about God's personality and power by looking at simple little things like seeds.
Then I got to thinking about what it takes for a seed to live. At a minimum, it takes good soil, light, and water.
I thought of how Jesus made our planet to reflect who He is and show us how to walk with Him. Jesus explains the different soils in Matthew 13. That could make a worthwhile discussion on its own, but I want to focus more on the light and the water.
We cannot live physically without light and water. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants manufacture all the nutrients we need to thrive. The plants feed the animals also, so we can enjoy milk, cheese, ice cream, bacon, eggs and butter for our toast. Here again, we have so many options that it is impossible to count, especially if you use recipes from all the nations on earth. That is all wonderful, but without the plants taking in our exhaled carbon dioxide and giving us back our oxygen, we wouldn't need to worry about what we eat.
What is the spiritual truth from light? Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world. We cannot live spiritually without Christ. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." We can come closer to Christ through His Word. Some days the Scriptures are like a warm light in a cold, dark room. They comfort and offer direction and purpose. They bring life.
We cannot live for more than a few days without water. Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive (John 7:37–39).
Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 44:3–4. "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams."
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 that "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." We need both the truth of God's Word (light) and His Holy Spirit (water) in our lives to grow and become fruitful.
I want to link this together with parts of Revelation 22:1–5. "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. . . . They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to look at creation and see our awesome Creator. Sue is author of Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road (see https://www.indianlife.org/store/). She and her husband, Wes, now live in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
