Dig. Scrape. Hoe. Plant. Weed. Water. Repeat.
Summer gardens – there’s nothing like one. We look forward to the reward of fresh food for our labor.
First Dad gets out the rototiller, and Mom grabs the rake and smooths out that black Nebraska dirt. A row is hoed and seeds are planted and covered by us kids. We hope for rain but the summers are hot so we must water. We pull weeds, and eventually it’s time for the harvest.
Then came picking, snapping, washing, and preserving. These beautiful jars would see us through to the next year’s garden.
Out of that process, among those tools used by these people – what caused the growth that ultimately led to the harvest?
None of us. We are not that powerful. We can dig and rake and water and weed and that garden might still fail. I best not take credit!
Paul said this to the Corinthians when they were arguing over which teacher they should follow:
“I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9 NLT)
Do you see? We all have tools, different ones. We are to use them every chance we get. If I’m a rake, I want to rake to the best of my ability. However raking alone will not yield a harvest. None of these tools are meant to be used in isolation but rather alongside the others. And only one tool is mine – if I pick up your shovel who will rake? A shed full of shovels does not a garden make.
They are important, all of them, but they are only a means to an end – the harvest.
We must keep our eyes on the prize, doing our very best but never forgetting that only One can can make the seeds grow.
absolutely correct!
💜