Sowing Seeds
1 Corinthians 3:5-11 (NRSV)
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.
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Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
- 1 Corinthians 3:7 (NRSV)
MY husband and I have become avid gardeners since our retirement. He operates the tiller, turning the brown earth to make it soft and pliable. He lays off the rows and applies the fertilizer. My job is to place the tiny seeds in the furrows and cover them with just the right amount of soil. If the seeds are planted too deep, they will not be able to push through to the surface; if planted too shallow, their root systems will not grow strong enough to support them or birds may eat them before they sprout. After doing all I can, I wait patiently while God sends the rain, hoping it will be a gentle one that will not wash the seeds away.
As a teacher in the church, I think of the spiritual seed I sow. The church provides a building for me and good literature to help me prepare to teach. I spend adequate time preparing the lessons. I am hopeful that fertile minds have been prepared by prayer and study to receive my message. Like the seeds I planted in the garden, I depend on God for the watering and germination. God calls me to be faithful in my task of planting the seed, not to calculate the results. My job as a teacher is not to count and measure successes but to witness faithfully as I spread the message of God's love.
Prayer: O God, help us to do our best as communicators of your message. Use our Christian witness for your glory and honor. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Work for God without calculating the results.
PRAYER FOCUS:
Those who teach God's word
