1 Corinthians 10:4 “…and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”

            A couple of years ago we were looking for some nice bushy flower plants to put in front of our house and we found some beautiful blue hydrangeas.  We planted them and they looked so nice with the pretty pop of blue they provided.  We knew that in order to keep the blue color, the soil had to be acidic. Having no idea what our soil was, we just let them grow.  Over the summer, as the first flowers died away and were replaced by new blooms, we noticed the blue fading.  This year, because we didn’t treat the ground with a special acidic product, we now have beautiful bright pink hydrangea blooms.  It became very apparent what hydrangeas had been feeding on when we first bought them.

            I got to thinking about that and got to thinking about what my heart feeds on.  Looking over my life in the past, my spiritual life definitely reflected what I “fed” on.  Is the fruit I bear the fruit of the light which Paul describes as all goodness, righteousness and truth (Eph. 5:9), or have I been feeding on (or drinking in) the thoughts and sin of the world?  As I reflected on Ephesians 5, verse 19 says, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything. If that is what is reflected in my life, then those around me – those with whom I come in contact daily, will see Christ in me because my life will be reflecting Him, and I’ll be glorifying God. 

            It’s true, our human lives have a tendency towards sin and selfishness, and we are not perfect.  But when we feed on God’s word, the solid spiritual food found in His word, and when we ‘drink in Christ’ regularly – daily, people should notice the difference.  When Peter and John were preaching when they were just starting out after Jesus returned to heaven, it says in Acts 4:13, When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  

            What about our lives?  Will people note that we have been with Jesus today?  Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:8-11, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

            As we spend time in the Word, feeding on and drinking in the truth that is found there, we will find out what pleases the Lord. Then, asking for the power the Holy Spirit to work in us and transform us, we will be able to live out what we have discovered.