“One Year Bible” Old Testament Passage
Job 8:1-11:20
Can a papyrus grow without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water? While it is green and not cut down, it withers before any other plant. So are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish. Job 8:11-13 (NKJV)
We are designed for fellowship with God. It is like water to a plant. As I write these words, we are in the heat of summer. Beautiful plants in our flower beds at home are wilted badly due to the lack of adequate water. You and I are the same way. We are designed to flourish in the waters of continual fellowship with God.
So, how does your garden grow? The very purpose of daily prayer and Bible study is nourishment and replenishment. They are NOT the actions of religious duty. We should enjoy it and benefit from it. For this reason, our enemy fights it.
The disciplines of nourishment for your spirit work almost opposite to those for your physical body. Physically, the less you eat or drink, the more you WANT to eat and drink. You get hungry. You get thirsty. Spiritually, however, the less you “eat”, the less you want to “eat”. Conversely, the more your pray, the more you WANT to pray. So it is with Bible reading and study. People who stay away from God’s presence, find it harder and harder to even want to return.
The busy-ness of life can starve us. We lose touch with our water source. As a result, we wither and languish. So, today, drink deeply from the waters of life. Let your insides be restored. It is the best — the highest — way to live.