Spiritual Irrigation System:

          A couple of winters ago, I helped a customer fix a faulty irrigation system.  As we began revamping sprinkler heads and fixing cracked lines, I thought of the similarities of repairing a SPIRTUAL IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

          The Process: 1. Find the source of the leak. 2. Determine what parts are needed for the repair.  3. Shut off the water source and/or cap off the broken line.  4. Drive to the hardware store and purchase the right sized pipe, couplers, glue, and a pipe cutter. 5. Dig out a reasonable work space (around and under the leak.) 6. Cut away the cracked or damaged pipe.  7. Glue both sprinkler pipe ends (1 inch from lip of pipe end,) inside of two straight couplers. 8. Fit the piece of repair pipe into the length of the cut you made in the sprinkler line.  9. (Test the fittings of this before gluing.) 10. Glue pieces together and test water system before the hole is re-filled. Wow, I’m tired just telling you about it.

          In the Spiritual Irrigation system, I like to think of Pastors and Missionaries as pulsating sprinkler heads (shooters,) faithfully distributing God’s word to His people. Evangelists might be seen as autonomous portable sprinklers capable of hooking up with local water sources and hosing down a community of believers with God’s Truth. A wide variety of other ministries such as the arts and media can share in widening the coverage of God’s truth; however, most of us are called to serve in churches, basically doing our work underground as pipe-work or conduits of God’s truth.

          As individuals when our digestion system becomes clogged we experience stomach aches.  Spiritually speaking, how clear are your pipes?   Do you have trash or clutter blocking your spiritual channel of God’s Truth?  Why not take a few moments today and wash out the junk of greed, lust, pride, selfishness, and other sins that so easily block the flow of God’s water (His truth-the Word) in us?