I have spent the last few months gardening in containers, which
are spaced throughout my tiny outside flower garden. Some plants did better
than the others. My tomatoes flourished and are still producing juicy, rich
tomatoes. The peppers did well and are still sparsely bearing fruit. However, the
okra, squash, green beans, celery and onions all failed to generate any usable fruit.
This reminds me of Jesus’ parable concerning the four types of
soil: some seed fell upon the path, others among the thorns, many within the
rocks and then just a few on the good soil. If the ground is hard, thorny or
rocky, there is no room for the roots. It is only in a garden of prepared
soil that a plant can take hold and grow to full maturity.
Similarly, our spiritual food is found in the rich depths of the Word
of God. The only way to withstand the winds of adversity or the scorching
trials and temptation we encounter in this life is to have our roots sunk
deeply into a spiritually fertile environment. Jesus said that we will know His
disciples by their fruit.
If His disciples are to produce fruit, they need good, rich,
tilled, spiritually fertilized soil. As we receive God’s Word with conviction
and repentance, we are ready to receive the proper nourishment. We feast on God’s
Word, reading it every day to prepare the soil, so that we will bloom where God
plants us.
Many of today’s churches are barren wastelands with nothing spiritually
nutritious to offer the Believer. They focus on providing glitz and glitter to
attract people, and then they supply only spiritual junk food, rather than
wholesome nourishment. However, God is still raising up an army of teachers
with every generation - those people who faithfully sow the seeds of the truth
of God’s Word.
Prayer:
Father God, remind us to feast on Your Word throughout the day. We
eat three physical meals a day, and we need at least that many spiritual meals
in order to have a healthy spirit and an intimate relationship with You.
Provide us with teachers who seek You in prayer before they share Your Word.
Lead us to a caring and loving fellowship of Believers. Even in these end
times, please keep a remnant of spiritual teachers, preaching Your truth on
which we can feast, Biblical principles, which enable us to bear much fruit. Thought for the Day:
A lifetime commitment to feast on God’s Word gives us the spiritual strength to minister for Him in every area in which He calls us.
– Ephesians 2:10
