Half of the leaves on the biggest and oldest tree were shriveled and brown when I returned to Berlin. I assumed maybe they hadn't been watered enough while I was away. But after giving it some thought for a few days, I realized it's the sun! Only half the tree is facing the window and that half is doing great . . . broad, shiny, perfectly green leaves. You can see it in the other plants in the window sill. They get a lot more sunshine but all the leaves grow to face the window. There are virtually no leaves on the side of the plants facing away from the window.
One website I read advised: "Growing your tree indoors year around is going to be very difficult because indoors they only get sun on one side. They really need to be outdoors in full sun unless you have a greenhouse so it can get full sun on all 4 sides."
Psalm 1 refers to a tree's leaves never withering because it is planted by streams of water (verse 3), with access to plenty of water and FULL SUNSHINE!
As Christians, we are the same. Partial exposure to the sun is not enough. We need adequate, daily, full exposure to the encouragement of the Word of God through study, meditation, preaching/teaching, exhortation from fellow believers, etc.
Funny when you find teaching illustrations in houseplants . . .
Without enough sun, you will wither.
