Anyone who has had a flower garden or vegetable garden understands the joy one receives when he sees the results of what he has planted growing. It takes work, but the fruit of the labor is worth it all. One must first prepare the soil and then plant his vegetables or flowers. One must water them, sometimes daily, or sometimes weekly. It all depends on the rain the Lord sends. Remember that it is God that controls the weather and not man. Finally, after much work, one gets to enjoy the fruit of his labor.
The Christian life is much like a garden. It takes real work to be a growing Christian, and it does not happen by accident. One must prepare the soil of his heart to be able to meet with God on a personal basis. The seed is the Word of God which grows in our hearts when we read the Bible, or when we hear a message preached from the Word of God. The more we read or hear, the more we will grow in the Lord. God gives us water through the Holy Spirit that gives us blessings in our hearts when we are in tune with Him. As a child of God, we need to long for that still small voice of God to guide and direct our lives. God’s plan or His will for our lives is that we will be fruitful. John 15:8 tells us “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” There are two types of fruit in our lives as a Christian: seeing others being saved because of what we have done and the fruit of the Spirit such as joy, love, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and meekness. There are three main things that we need in the Christian life to help to make us that type of growing Christian that God wants. These include: reading the Bible, praying to the Lord, and faithfully attending church. We will look more closely at each of these three things in the future, but here is a question for each of us to ponder- Are we a growing Christian, and how are we growing? Praise the Lord if you are a growing Christian, but if you are not, ask the Lord to show you what you need to do.
Dr. Ken Scoggins
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