It is May 17th and we are done in the garden! We went out this morning and planted the seeds. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for harvest. Right? WRONG! You might say that planting is only the beginning of a garden. You might say that we got the easy part out of the way. Now comes the commitment and hard work every week of hoeing and thinning and weeding and watering and watching out for bugs.
For anyone who gardens, this is common sense. Planting is just one small part of the process. But for common sense, I am amazed at how many people will plant a garden only to forget about it and let it grow wild. Unfortunately, we do this same thing in our church. We get excited about planting a few seeds of faith by inviting a neighbor to church or sharing a gospel tract with a stranger and then sit back in our pew and wonder why the house of God keeps shrinking. Worse yet, some people never even plant seeds of faith!
Our church is supposed to be like a well-kept garden – growing, vibrant, productive, and pleasing to our Master. In order to keep our church that way, we, the servants of God, must be growing ourselves and tending to anything and everything that is required to grow a wonderful testimony of Jesus Christ in our community. We must be faithful to plant seeds in Hulett and willing to support missions that will plant in other towns, states, and countries as well. We must be diligent to weed out any unrighteousness from within our fellowship. We must be committed to cultivating and watering the seeds that emerge in our midst to make disciples. And finally, we must be willing to use our God-given resources of time, prayer, money, and gifts to accomplish whatever demands our Master makes of us for His garden.
We are going to plant some seeds in Hulett to grow God’s church. Will you join us? And since planting is only the beginning, will you continue to help work in His garden and grow with us until He is ready to come and oversee His harvest?
“I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction.”
Proverbs 24:30-32
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase…For we are God’s fellows workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:6, 9