I’m sure you know Jesus’ parable about the seed representing how we grow spiritually. Some is picked away, some has shallow roots, and some is choked out by weeds. I’m concerned for the church of God in these days because I see people believing in Jesus but not staying close enough to Him to grow. So how do I put down good roots?
1. Be cultivated. God’s truth will never take root and produce fruit if I don’t let it in and let it do its work of breaking, convicting, and instructing.
2. Embrace the compost. You know what compost is, right? Animal waste, rotten garbage, and microorganisms. They all enrich the soil. The suffering in my life–whether self-inflicted by bad judgment or brought about through no fault of my own–is the compost accelerated spiritual growth.
3. Surrender. There’s deep, hidden work underground before a seed sprouts and grows. And if I don’t surrender the time to wait for God to do the deep, hidden work underground, I won’t surrender anything else.
4. Nourish. Plants need sun, water, and carbon dioxide. Believers need the Word, prayer, fellowship, service, and worship. Photosynthesis is the miracle of plants turning energy from sunlight into life. There’s a similar miracle through exposure to the nourishing elements of growth for believers.
5. Participate. Plants work together with other life forms for mutual benefit. God desires that I bring my uniqueness to the family of believers and participate. We have let too many mundane things take us from our commitment to God’s family, and our lack of participation is often at the bottom of stagnation and lack of growth.
I believe God wants me to bear fruit; I can’t do that unless I’m growing. Are you growing? Am I?
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