There is a particular road in my corner of the world that I love to drive. The view of our beautiful valley from that vantage point always cheers my heart. I admire the houses on that road and wonder what it would be like to have that view out your window. As we drove on that road this week, my husband and I saw a “For Sale” sign by a dirt drive. We decided to investigate just for fun.

The driveway led back behind the first set of houses to an uncultivated area. How surprised we were when just a little ways in, the landscape changed dramatically. What had been beautiful green pasture land was now stark desert and sagebrush. The difference was shocking. It would not be my first choice for a home.

Later in the week, my friend and I were walking in her neighborhood when she commented how water affects the desirability and therefore the cost of a property. I thought how true that was, remembering our earlier exploratory drive. Then a different thought hit me – water improves what it touches. Those rolling hills of desert we saw earlier in the week, simply needed water and care to transform into what it could be. It made me think of those times I had hiked in our area after a wet spring storm. It is amazing how just a little rain makes the desert areas bloom.

How similar that is to Jesus Christ – the Living Water. A life or situation touched by Him improves and blossoms beyond measure. And thankfully, He doesn’t see the way we see. He doesn’t reject a spot of barren dirt or a wandering soul, writing them off as a lost cause. He NEVER does. He sees beyond the surface, beyond the failings, and into our potential. As it says in Isaiah 11:3-4, “…He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; But with righteousness shall he judge the poor…” The poor in hope, the poor in spirit, even the poor in choices. And if we allow Him in, our souls and situations bloom like desert flowers.