Bamboo

Luke 8:16-17 – No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. (ESV)

As a small present for Caroline, my wife, I bought some green bamboo stalks. They sit huddled together in a large ceramic pot. It seems they have previously been trained around a pole to have a spiral stalk. One of the requirements to keep these stalks healthy is to change their water regularly, to prevent any unwanted organic growth.

One time as I changed the water in the pot, I knocked off one of the new leaf outgrowths. They are slow to grow, so, unhappy to put it in the bin, I placed it into a little glass candleholder filled with water — just to see what would happen.

Month after month, it sat in the window, and I kept an eye on this rootless green bundle of leaves, but without seeing any sign of growth or new life. Nevertheless, the leaves stayed green, and so I regularly changed the water, rinsed off the stalk, and cleaned the glass — and prayed for it.

Slowly, in the hot summer weather, and to my joy, it finally sprouted forth roots into the bottom of the conical glass candleholder, so that it was now showing signs of growth and healthy life.

This reminded me of how God has taken us out of bad situations, where we may have been damaged, hurt, or just been alone in the world, and provided us with life-giving water — that has welled up to eternal life!

I believe that as we invite Him, Jesus washes us down daily and cleans out the inner environment for us, so that we are able to grow in the kingdom of God. Even when there is no initial outward sign of life, God is working to produce growth. Sooner or later, as we allow Him, this new growth will show!

Prayer: Lord, we rejoice in the miracle of growth. Our world is full of examples that remind us that You are the author of all life, for which we give You thanks and praise. We humbly ask in the name of Jesus that You will continue to water us and wash us down, to clean out our impurities, so that once more we may show new signs of growth. Amen.

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