I can count on one hand the number of times that my husband has bought me flowers. He says that you can't really enjoy them because they die so quickly after you get them. Instead, he plants me flowers. It all started with our engagement- he planted a rosebush at my house. Ever since then, for my birthday and mother's day, I get a new rose bush or hibiscus. He's even gotten our children involved in picking the flowers out and helping him plant them.
He plants them but it's my job to water them. They are beautiful but after some time, the weeds grow up around them and some of them die. Recently, we were outside one evening and I was doing my watering job. My husband looked at me with this strange look on his face and asked "Why are you watering a dead plant??" I just looked at him with an equally strange look and just shrugged my shoulders. The plant was grown up with weeds and it was clearly dead. It was next to some plants that were still blooming so I just watered everything at one time.
I got to thinking about watering a dead plant and how we often "water" things that are dead or that serve no purpose. By watering, I mean that we make every effort to keep something alive that serves no purpose. It could be that dream or idea that sounds really good to you but that God has clearly said no. It could be that habit or hangup that is not serving you any purpose at all but that you are clearly trying to keep it alive. Maybe it's the relationship that you need to let go of but you're doing everything you can to keep it alive.
Ecclesiastes 3 talks about the timing and seasons of life. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (NIV) says "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot." What are you watering today?