The Shamrock's Turnaround

Shamrock Living

                Mother has a vibrant green thumb. I wrote about how a little shamrock plant, given by Charlotte Hutchens, provided encouragement as we cared for Dad for most of the 42-month span of his convalescence. (Here is a link to this previously mentioned blog posting:

 https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/03/living-shamrock-life.html )

                 A few months ago, my mother agonized about the shamrock given to her by Charlotte Hutchens, her dear neighbor and friend. It seemed on the brink of dying. An accurate, but depressing statement emitted from my mouth. I told her, “Mother, you know plants are not going to live forever.”

                Unfazed, she mused, “Maybe it is not getting enough light.” She had placed its little pot under a pretty mirror in the dining room.

                Mother set about clearing the recess near the north dining room window. Glorious sunlight streamed into that spot. She centered the puny-looking shamrock plant in that nook.

                Within days, an unbelievable transformation took place. The distressed plant began to flourish. What delight when the shamrock even bore delicate, white blooms!

                The growth-altering variable was the light of the sun flooding daily onto that little tri-leaved sprig with spindly stems. The dying shamrock flourished with the abundant light pouring onto every part of it throughout the daylight hours.

                We marveled at the shamrock’s conversion from a plant on life support to one thriving and attracting all types of attention as it bloomed in its own tiny nook of the house. After expressing surprise and joy, my mind recalled the Apostle John’s small letter, inspired by God, and written, most likely, to his congregation at Ephesus. These words from I John 1:7 appeared in the forefront of my memory:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

                Living in the light of Jesus, the Son of God, enables us to get along amiably with each other. His Light illumines the areas that need to be cleansed, cleaned up by the blood of Jesus. Our primary goal is to remain in His light - as the little shamrock soaked up the light of the sun. He does the rest – just as He caused the struggling shamrock to grow and thrive because of the warm, radiance of His sunlight.

                I would neglect an important aspect of what John wrote around 2000 years, if I did not mention the two verses that preceded the one printed above. Verses 5 and 6 say:

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,

that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth.

                The longer we walk with the Lord, complacency and self-confidence can creep into our lives. The Bible is replete with examples of people who, through the power of God at work in them, did great exploits in His Name. But then down their road of life, somehow, they drifted into darkness and did not practice the truth.

As I apply this Biblical reality to my own life, several words have floated through my mind – guarded, cautious, terrified. None are accurate. Attentive is the best way to portray the thought pattern needed as I age. An attentiveness to walking in the light of my relationship with Him can assure staying out of the darkness which leads to lying to myself and results in failure to practice the truth. Instead I live a lie.

John wrote initially, in verse 6, of our fellowship with Him, a daily interaction with Him through reading His word and praying to Him. A natural, spiritual flow from our fellowship with Him is noted by the Apostle John, in verse 7, to  fellowship with one another, positive exchanges with family, friends, coworkers, and literally anyone we encounter.

Only by remaining in the light of His Word daily, asking Him to reveal those areas prone to self-reliance, and to correct those prideful attitudes can I continue to flourish just like the hearty little shamrock. The shamrock plant’s only source of life has been the sun. A vibrant relationship with the Son of God will be the sole basis for me to thrive as a believer.