God wants you to grow.

Whether your thumb is green or not, when it comes to the Christian life, God wants you to grow. But what does it look like to be a flourishing plant in God’s garden? Plants need four things to live—dirt, air, light, and water—and there are correlations in each of those to our walk with the Lord.

Dirt: Genesis says that God created man out of the dust of the earth. We must remember that we are nothing but dust—humble jars of clay.

Air: Every breath we are given comes from the Lord.

Light: Jesus calls himself the “light of the world.” God has embedded in our souls a process similar to photosynthesis; we must be in contact with the light constantly, not sporadically.

Water: Jesus once famously asked, “Is anyone thirsty?” and then promised that if anyone thirsted, they could come to him to be satisfied. The Scriptures often equate water to the Spirit, the Word of God, and worship. These are the means by which we remain spiritually hydrated.

When these elements come together we will “bear much fruit.” If God is a gardener, and if we are all branches on His vine, then when we bear fruit we are playing a part in His end game. The beauty is that others are blessed by this process; those attached to the vine, and those not. In a vine, not every grape has the same purpose—whether raisins, wine, jelly, or juice. Likewise, we all have different gifts that lead us to being used uniquely, helping the whole vine to grow. On top of that, our fruit attracts unbelievers to the vine, thus grafting them into the vine as well.

Excerpt from the devotional, 21Days In The Gospel Of John With Levi Lusko.