New and Different

Can I be a new and different person with a freshness in all I do?

My tomato plants always look new and different each morning, taller, bigger and more flowers - as long as I remember to water and feed them. If I don’t remember they droop down as if dying, but with a good watering each day they look new and quite different. They have more fruit and the leaves give a lovely fragrance as I walk by. They soak up the God-given sunshine and one day soon, the fruit will be very satisfying to me and to others.

I can be like this. The Lord is a very willing Gardener, making the Living Water of His Spirit and food from His Word continuously available to me. He will tend me as I grow the fruit of His Spirit, keeping focussed on Him. His grace will pour down upon me and I’ll become a new and different person with the freshness of His presence in my life.

I feel encouraged when I read in the Bible ‘Grow in Christ, live in harmony and peace’ (2 Corinthians 13:11), and ‘May you always be doing those good kind things that show you are a child of God’ (Philippians 1:11). So I believe I can become a new and different person, fruitful and fresh, with a fragrance that is pleasing to God and others.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I’m sorry that I droop like a tomato plant that hasn’t been watered and fed sometimes. Help me to keep focussed on You each day and become a new and different person, refreshed by Your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.