Walking With Christ

Here is a little science lesson for everyone. Every plant needs water. Every seed needs water to begin the transformation. Most seeds have a shell that protects the seed until water is found. Once water is absorbed into the seed, the cells of the seed expand which causes this protective shell to crack or break. This lets more water in. The water, once absorbed, activates enzymes in the seed that break down the nutrients stored in the seed. These dense nutrients are typically starches that cannot be processed by the seed under normal circumstances. Once the enzymes break these down into glucose and other usable nutrients then the seed can begin to grow.

The cells of the seed begin the respiration process that converts the glucose into cellular energy that is used for cell division. This is growth. In the early stages of growth, water can even act as a transportation mechanism for nutrients into the seed.

Fast forward just a bit to see that most plants pull in water from the roots. This water is pushed up through the plant to the leaves where the water is expelled through the leaves. This creates a vacuum system because the expelled water lowers the pressure in the leaves. This is called the transpiration-cohesion-tension mechanism. Since high pressure wants to find lower pressure areas to equal out as much as possible, this causes the roots to pull water from the soil and slowly push it up and out. The water carries nutrients from the soil into the plant which are broken down into glucose and a few other required nutrients for more growth. Water will stick to water. It will also stick to the lining of xylem vessels (essentially the blood vessels for plants). All of this means that when the leaf pushes water out those drops of water pull on the molecules of water below and creates a low pressure zone that needs to be addressed. This causes the entire chain of water molecules to more up just a bit. Since the water concentration at the roots of the plant tends to be the highest those just forces water to move slowly through the plant.

The water inside of the plant cells is what gives the plant its shape and strength. This is called turgor pressure. If a plant is low on water then the whole thing will sag or wilt.

Some plants have adapted to environments with little to no water for long periods of time. They have protective mechanisms that help to keep the moisture in for a long as possible. Other plants have adapted to a near constant supply of water such that they will put moisture out of the air more than from the ground. Some really weird plants are known as resurrection plants because they can go fairly long periods of time without water by appearing to be dead. They will shrink, wilt, and even lose leaves at times. Yet, with the introduction of water they will restore themselves to full glory.

So, how does any of this apply to human beings? Skip to here to avoid science stuff.

In John 4:10 we read about the woman at the well.

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”(ESV)

Follow that with this:
John 7:37-38 (37)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. (38)Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”(ESV)

The words planted in every heart concerning the way the truth, and the life is watered by the Holy Spirit. The more of that “water” we find at the soil level, the more pressure we will feel to lift that water up to the leaves, so to speak. What goes in is what comes out. When the Holy Spirit pours living water into us then we will pour out ‘rivers of living water’ from our hearts.

The process of taking the spiritual nutrients we receive, using those to grow, then sharing that living water with others causes growth like nothing else. Being a cul-de-sac Christian stunts our growth because it disrupts that natural cycle that exists spiritually parallel with what we see in the plant world.