Thursday 3-25-10

1 Corinthians 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

As I read this I thought of years back one particular summer my family did a garden. Months before summer we fertilized it, limed it, tilled it.. tilled it again, fertilized it, limed it, tilled it again. We cut branches off trees that would block out sunlight, we set up schedules for weeding/watering/ect., we put down news papers around the plants so the weeds would be choked back. We got good quality seeds, planted them at the right time, the right depth. We watered them, weeded the garden, there was a lot of work that went into it. But there was almost no crop what-so-ever that year, so much hard work and very little to show for it. Now there were other years in which we got tons of fresh produce but that year wasn't one of them.

I thought of that summer and how it relates to spiritual battles. We can plan out, sacrifice for, work towards a goal such as a church plant or soul to be won. But that is all we can do is labor, I cannot save anyone, I cannot make anyone repent of a sin, I cannot cause anyone to grow in the Lord, I can do nothing but obey God. I need to make sure all my laboring is done as unto the Lord, if I become self-reliant and think I can achieve this or accomplish that on my own strength and not by God's grace I am greatly mistaken. May whatever God calls me to do, may I obey completely and remain totally dependent on his grace and power to accomplish the task he gives me to do. 

May the grace of God be with you,