Lily Pad

Yesterday, as I do every morning on my way to work, I passed by Boy Scout lake.  As I drove by, I noticed something very odd looking.  At first I thought that the water was covered with ducks.  But as I got closer, I realized that they were not ducks at all, they were dead lily pads.  These lily pads looked very different than the pretty green ones that had been there before.  They were dried up and black, not pretty at all.

 Since the beginning of our women’s ministry last year at church, L.I.L.Y. Pad Ministries, I have been more observant of these little aquatic plants whenever I see them.  When we started the ministry, the Lord had given our leader, Dorothy, a beautiful picture of how our lives relate to the lily pad. “We each have our own “lily pad” (our home) which is part of a “pond” (our churches and our community) which we are to impact for Jesus!” We all pictured ourselves as cute little Frogettes sitting atop our little lily pad homes. 

 

But what happens when the lily pad dies…when it shrivels up and disappears?  How do we keep that from happening?  How do we keep the enemy from doing what he lives to do….steal, kill and destroy.  No home, not even the strongest of Christian homes, is exempt from satan’s fiery darts.  His goal is to divide and conquer.  Nothing makes him happier than to see our homes destroyed and our families in turmoil.

  So how do we keep our lily pads alive and thriving?

The most vital requirement for a lily pad's survival is water.  

 The most important requirement for our family’s survival is the living water. 

[Jeremiah 17:13b NIV] “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.

Another necessity for the lily pad’s survival is sunlight.

  A necessity for our family’s survival is the light of the SON. 

[John 8:12 NIV] “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

And without the roots of the lily pad firmly grounded in the bottom of the pond,

 it will not withstand the storms.

 Without our roots firmly grounded in the word of God, we will not withstand the storms of life. 

[John 15:6 NIV] “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

There is only one thing that can keep our lily pads (homes) healthy and thriving…Jesus.  Let us not get so busy and stressed out in our lives that we forget that HE is our everything.  Our homes will not survive without the Water, the Light and Strong Roots.