Staying in the Light

My favorite plant died. It sat in my front window for years and years, and now it is ready for the trash. I had moved it in December to put up the Christmas tree. I still fed it; I still watered it, but still, it wilted and died. I couldn’t figure out where I went wrong…until today. I saw that there was very little sun where I set the plant, and it died.

Lately, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. I eat; I drink plenty of water, but still, sometimes I feel like I am dying a little inside. I work two part-time jobs that I am very thankful for, but I have noticed that the more hours I work, the less time I am spending with God.

It isn’t that my work is forcing me not to spend time with God, it is that when I get home, I race around (pick up kids from two different schools and usher them to choir, gymnastics, band and jazz band, Cub Scouts, youth group at church, etc.). Once we are home, we have to throw in a load of laundry, wash the dishes, and toss something together for dinner. After dinner we are racing around again until finally, we collapse in front of the TV or bring out a board game or simply sit around and talk for 15 minutes of time together before bed. The next day, the chaos begins again. I still eat; I still drink plenty of water, and most of the time, I get at least 6 hours of sleep, but like I noticed with my plant, I am not spending much time with the SON.

Do you ever feel this way? Thirsty, even though you just finished your cup of coffee? Hungry even thought you just ate lunch? Tired and wilted, even though you just woke up from 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep? Maybe, like me, you aren’t spending enough time with the Son.

“Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring which will provide him with the life-giving water and give him eternal life.” (John 4:13b-14, TEV)

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35 NIV)

I wish I had realized earlier that my plant needed more sunlight. It is too late for my plant, but it is not too late for me…or for you…to begin to spend time each day in the light of the Son.

Kim Kanofsky