Bible Reading: Psalm 42:1-4
"It's still raining," said Hayley. "Isn't the sun ever going to shine again?"
"We need rain to make the garden grow," said Mom. She smiled at her daughter. "This might be a good time for you to pray and read your Bible. You haven't done that yet today, have you?"
"No--but I have some other things I want to do first." Hayley quickly headed for the stairs. "Seems like all we do in this family is go to church and read the Bible and pray," she mumbled to herself. She blushed when she saw Mom glance her way. Oops! I hope Mom didn't hear that, she thought.
A little while later, Hayley came back downstairs and glanced out the window. "Good!" she said. "The rain stopped. We've had enough."
"Come with me to the garden," said Mom. "I want to show you something."
Outside, Mom plunged a shovel into the dirt and turned it over. The ground was quite wet on top, but a little way down, the dirt was dry.
"I thought it'd be muddy a mile below the surface!" said Hayley. "I guess we do need more rain."
Mom nodded. "The ground needs a lot of regular rain or it will dry out," she said. "It reminds me of us--if we don't regularly pray, read the Bible, and go to church, we can dry out spiritually."
Hayley sighed. "You heard what I said earlier, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," said Mom. "And I know it can be hard to do those things sometimes, but the Bible compares our need for Jesus to thirst. Even after we've put our faith in Him, we still need to spend time with Him so He can remind us that He has saved us and help us feel His love and presence in our lives. If we don't pray, read His Word, and worship Him with other Christians regularly, we can lose sight of how much we need Him and become spiritually dry--just like this ground without rain."
Hayley was silent as they headed back to the house. "I think I'll go have my quiet time now," she said once they were inside. "I'm feeling thirsty for God's Word."
–Cindy Huff
How About You?