God's Dew and Rain

Isaiah 55:6-11
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

God wants His Word to accomplish something, to prosper in something. What is it that God wants His Word to accomplish? In what way does God want His Word to prosper?

God compares His Word to the rain that waters the earth and causes it to bring forth fruit. Like the rain, His Word is sent forth to water the hearts of men to cause those hearts to bring forth the fruit of repentance. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
So much of God's creation requires water to sustain life. Plants, animals, and humans require water daily. This creates a dependence upon God for day-to-day life. This is by design. It's God's will for me to be dependent upon Him for my daily life. It's God's way of drawing me near and keeping me near.

God faithfully provides the life-sustaining water needed. He does His part. God sends the morning dew faithfully, and He expects His creation to absorb the dew into their being every day to sustain life. The daily dew sustains the plants through the heat of the day. But God sends more than daily dew; He also sends the rains during the growing season. The rains provide the abundant moisture that the plants need to produce fruit.

Likewise, God has provided me with a daily dose of His life-sustaining Word and He expects me to absorb it into my being every day. It is by reading God's Word that I draw near to Him. Receiving that daily Word into my being sustains me through the heat of the day -- the trials and temptations that beat down upon me daily. When I refuse to read my Bible every day, I'm causing my spirit to thirst. The longer I go without the daily water of the Word, the weaker my spirit becomes, and I begin to wilt and wither in the heat of temptations and trials. As I succumb to the heat, I wander farther and farther away from God. It becomes more and more difficult to withstand the very heat that God wants to use to grow me -- temptation and trials. A spirit that is thirsty from neglecting God's Word will wither under the heat of temptation and trials and seek refreshment and relief from the world's polluted river. And that water is not the same as the water of God's Word.

What's the difference, you say? Water is water, right? Wrong. Live awhile in the the desert and you'll come to understand the difference between fresh water and tainted water. The water we pipe in from area reservoirs is tainted with salt, minerals, and chemicals. It doesn't taste good as drinking water, and it really isn't good for irrigating crops. It will keep plants alive, but they don't really thrive and they don't produce fruit. In fact, if the tainted water splashes up on the leaves of a tender plant, it actually burns the leaves.

When we have a drought in the desert, we can irrigate our tomato plants with tainted water and keep them alive. They'll grow up tall all right, but they don't produce tomatoes until they receive fresh rainwater. That's how it is when we irrigate our spirits with the world's polluted message instead of God's fresh Word. We may get enough moisture to keep us alive, and it may look like we're growing tall. But we don't thrive and we don't produce fruit. It takes the fresh, clean water from a good rain to cause plants to bring forth fruit. And it takes the fresh, clean water of God's Word to bring forth good fruit in the life of any Christian.

God expects the plants that He has created to absorb the morning dew every day. He expects plants to absorb the abundant rain whenever He chooses to send it. Likewise, God determines the time that men's hearts receive His Word. He expects us to absorb His Word every day by reading our Bible. He expects us to absorb the abundant rains of His Word when He sends it.

When we find that we are particularly thirsty, we need to feed on God's Word all the more. It may indicate a growing season. God wants us to quench our thirst with His Word, not the world's polluted river. He wants us to absorb the abundant rain of His Word and bring forth good fruit.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20