One of the best reasons to plant a tree in autumn is that it will be more likely to get enough water for a good start in its new environment. It is with that thought that we planted a sugar maple tree in our front yard last October. Then we got inspired and also planted a yellow-twig dogwood, which provided winter sustenance for those peaky rabbits, and a pink pussy-willow tree.

Willows need plenty of water, as we discovered when we put two curly willows in a low spot many years ago. Here it is in early summer, with temperatures in the nineties, and they are all doing just fine.

Our town is riddled with underground springs, and one of them runs through the middle of the wide front yard. One swath stays particularly wet almost all year. In fact, I actually succeeded in getting watercress to grow for quite a while, until we hit a dry spell.

I recently got a good deal on a little blue spruce tree. Planting it in the heat of the summer, however, may not prove to be a bargain, unless I’m willing to water it every day all summer long. The place where we want it is in the back yard, away from the springs, and at the farthest end of the longest hose.

All plants need water, but with trees it is imperative that they get moisture while their roots are becoming established.

This is why we provide Bible classes to our little ones, and teach them diligently when they are young.

But spiritual maturity is not necessarily something that has a timeline. Some people come to the Lord late in life, while others take a “vacation” from spiritual growth because they neglect to see the importance of it. Whatever the case, we need to provide that “living water” of which Jesus spoke in John 4:10-13.

No plant can thrive if it is deprived of water for an extended time. Any plant will eventually die if it does not get the water it needs.

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. ‘

‘For he will be like a bush in the desert. And will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.’

‘Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream, and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit’” (Jeremiah 17:8, NASB).

There is nothing quite as discouraging to a gardener than to see her best efforts wasted after a drought has killed the once-flourishing plants. I suspect God is much more saddened to see the souls to whom he sent “living water” dry up and blow away as if they were tumbleweeds in the wind.

I am committed to keeping my little three-dollar Colorado blue spruce alive. What shall we do to keep our souls well-watered? Trust in the Lord, and not in mankind.

–Christine (Tina) Berglund  @ www.forthright.net