The Drip Line

The Drip Line

And I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart [in the final time], who will feed you with knowledge and understanding and judgment. Jeremiah 3:15 (AMP)

Recently, a 30 foot pine tree in our back yard just dried up and died. We fertilized it and did everything we knew to do. Little did we know that the original owners had an irrigation system put in that only watered next to the trunk of the tree.

A tree expert friend of ours came and looked at it and told us that most likely it was root bound and was unsalvageable. Sure enough, he was right. All the water was going straight down and did not challenge the roots to spread as they should. The tree could not get adequate nourishment to survive. The water should be at the drip line (that's where the branches reach to).

Many Christians run around getting "water" that is close to their "trunk." They don't want what will cause them to stretch and grow properly. They want what is easy and light. The result is that they are becoming "root bound" and soon will wither and die.

Their roots don't go deep and wide into the river of God and so they cannot stand during a real storm in life.

Spiritual pastors are a gift to the believer from Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. They know how to water the "trees" of the Lord properly.

And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] . . . some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers (Eph. 4:11 AMP).

They are responsible to water them at the "drip line." Rather than always bringing a light, easy, uplifting message, they bring "water" that will cause the "roots" to go wide and deep. They feed them nutrients that will allow them to grow to maturity in grace and a systemic word that will protect them from the attacks of blight and pestilence.

If you are, quit running around to get what is easy and settle in to a local church. Be a planted tree:

. . . be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. Psalm 1:3 (AMP)