Plant, Water, Trust
I have never been a farmer, per say, but I have planted seeds as a child and plants as an adult around my yard. As a child we were taught to plant the seed in good soil, water it but not too much, and make sure it is in the Sun to let it grow.
As a Christian, I believe we have lost sight of the simplicity found in that learning we received as a child. Sometimes I believe we spend too much time prodding and over watering the seed, tilling at the soil, and forgetting that it needs the sun to grow; so, we continually muscle it because we don’t or can’t see it growing.
We can hear the cry, “Calvinism is wrong because it forces man against his will”, but we will talk (to and down) to someone till we are blue in the face trying to convince them, against their will, that they need to “pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts” - right now! And God forbid that they deny us that pleasure, we will shake the dust from our garments and gladly hand them over to Satan, and all the while walking away with our head held high that we have done “our duty”, a great service unto the Lord.
Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 3:
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
We are to plant, we are to water, but God gives salvation when, where, and how He wants. Just as with our little gardens, we may do all the right things by planting and watering, but without the Sun, will we really see much of a crop? We can keep tilling up the ground, playing with the seed, drowning it in water, but all is for naught without the Sun doing its job. Did you get that? It’s job.
Our job is to witness; God’s job is to save. Salvation is not by us, but by God. God’s Word, the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation [Romans 1:16], not us and/or our presentation.
By planting and watering the seed (the gospel) through witnessing of the truth, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, through the love we have being now in Christ, we are being obedient to God. By our obedience we shall be given reward by God for our honest, pure labor done selflessly for the cause of Christ. Our job is to live a life honoring and pleasing to God.
God’s job, or power, is shown by taking our frail attempts at obedience through the planting and watering of the gospel and opening the eyes, ears, and mind of the unregenerate to see the marvelous light of Jesus Christ where one finds the forgiveness of sins.
As a Christian, I believe we have lost sight of the simplicity found in that learning we received as a child. Sometimes I believe we spend too much time prodding and over watering the seed, tilling at the soil, and forgetting that it needs the sun to grow; so, we continually muscle it because we don’t or can’t see it growing.
We can hear the cry, “Calvinism is wrong because it forces man against his will”, but we will talk (to and down) to someone till we are blue in the face trying to convince them, against their will, that they need to “pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts” - right now! And God forbid that they deny us that pleasure, we will shake the dust from our garments and gladly hand them over to Satan, and all the while walking away with our head held high that we have done “our duty”, a great service unto the Lord.
Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 3:
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
We are to plant, we are to water, but God gives salvation when, where, and how He wants. Just as with our little gardens, we may do all the right things by planting and watering, but without the Sun, will we really see much of a crop? We can keep tilling up the ground, playing with the seed, drowning it in water, but all is for naught without the Sun doing its job. Did you get that? It’s job.
Our job is to witness; God’s job is to save. Salvation is not by us, but by God. God’s Word, the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation [Romans 1:16], not us and/or our presentation.
By planting and watering the seed (the gospel) through witnessing of the truth, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, through the love we have being now in Christ, we are being obedient to God. By our obedience we shall be given reward by God for our honest, pure labor done selflessly for the cause of Christ. Our job is to live a life honoring and pleasing to God.
God’s job, or power, is shown by taking our frail attempts at obedience through the planting and watering of the gospel and opening the eyes, ears, and mind of the unregenerate to see the marvelous light of Jesus Christ where one finds the forgiveness of sins.
3 comments:
i have come across here only recently and have been enjoying your thoughts.
Leslie,
I appreciate you stopping by to visit my thoughts, for who am I? :)
Every once in a while I hope to post unnecssary but thought provoking topics like my last (Angels & Mankind), but for the most it will be topics that we can all use in our daily walks as Christians.
Thanks,
Tim
So true. It is the simple things we stumble over. Thanks for the reminder.
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