Bloom and Grow
By
Jeannine Sawall
Then
he said to his disciples, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few. Ask The Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into this
harvest field."
Matthew
9:37-38 (NIV)
Two summers ago, I
planted a strawberry patch in my garden. As the snow melted away and the first
glimmers of spring began to emerge, I went up to my garden to see how my
strawberry patch had fared this past winter. In just a couple of years, those
20 plants have multiplied and spread to fill the patch and are spilling over
into other parts of my garden.
As I marveled at my growing
patch, I found several lessons for our Christian life. Just as those strawberries
spread, our Christian influence is capable of spreading everywhere we go. Strawberries
bloom where they are planted and we, as Christians, are to bloom where we are
planted. While I started with only 20 plants, they have spilled over and have
planted themselves in areas I hadn't planned on. As followers of Christ, our
influence can surpass our expectations in areas of our life we didn't expect.
Whether it is in our homes, our workplace, our friendships or random
encounters, when we allow Christ to reign in our lives, the gospel message
spreads.
Even though the patch
is flourishing, there's still work to do. In order to enjoy the berries, I have
to tend to the patch. The Lord posts a "help wanted" sign in the last
part of the verse above from Matthew. When I tend to the patch, the harvest is
plentiful and sweet. However, if I ignore it, the weeds get in and choke out
the plants, the ripened berries will either rot on the vine or animals whom I
do not want to reap the berries will steal my harvest. Any harvest requires
workers and while God does not NEED us to get His work done, the glory of it
all is He wants to use us. He is willing to share the blessings of His harvest
work with us if we are willing to obey and be His workers.
A simple strawberry
patch offers us a lot of insight into our spiritual lives. We are to grow our
Christian influence wherever we are planted. We are to tend to our spiritual
walk and be available to The Lord. If we walk in disobedience or refuse to do
the work we are called to, we miss what the Lord has in store for us and our
sphere of influence is diminished, allowing others who may not have God's
purposes in mind to steal our blessings and the harvest. However, when we walk
in obedience and availability, He allows us to bloom and grow.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Where is your
Christian influence spreading?
2. How do you make yourself
available to reap God's harvest?
FURTHER READING:
Jeannine
is a wife and mother of four active boys. She works in the property management
business. Jeannine serves in the Oakwood Cafe and is actively involved in ministry
to those walking through grief.
