Flowerbeds and Faith

I decided to plant seeds this year in my flower beds instead of planting blossoms. The result has been that I didn’t get instant gratification and that I’ve had to work and wait for the end result. I had to till the ground, plant the seeds at the right depth, water them and wait. Months later, I’m still waiting for them to bloom.

Jesus said our faith is like a seed. It can do a lot of things including moving mountains, but it can’t do anything until you use it. In our world we like instant results, but faith doesn’t work that way. It must be tended and watered. We often have to wait to see the results.

Here are 3 things you can do to your faith.

1. Plant it

Unless you take a seed and plant it, it remains dormant. Keeping your faith to yourself is like keeping seeds in the packet they come in. They can sit there for years and not do anything. A lot of Christians are that way. They go to church each Sunday and keep their faith in the packet.

You must plant your faith in others so it can grow. There can be no harvest until the seed is planted. I read a sign everyday on someone’s desk that says, “The best sermons are not preached. They’re lived.” Live the way God wants you to live in front of others so they can see your faith. Plant it in them and water it daily.

2. Exercise it

I Timothy 4:8 says physical exercise is good, but spiritual exercise is beneficial in every way. You exercise your faith by putting it into action. You do things with it that you didn’t think we’re possible. If you knew you could do something before you did it, it wouldn’t be faith.

You don’t start off moving mountains just like you don’t walk into a gym and bench press your body weight. It takes time, effort and exercise to get there. Live a disciplined life where you exercise your faith daily in various ways so that you get a complete workout and not just one big muscle.

3. Reproduce it

The flowers that I planted will not reproduce unless they blossom. Once that happens, it produces more seeds that will reproduce themselves. You need to let your faith grow and blossom so that you will have the seeds to plant in others. Paul said some plant, others water and some harvest.

Look for opportunities in others to harvest faith. Jesus told us to look at the fields because they were ready to harvest. We rarely look at the fields because we don’t want to offend others in this word of tolerance. We have to come to the point where we realize that souls are what matter to God and it should matter to us.

Where is your faith today? Is it sitting in the original packing still or have you gotten your hands in the dirt and planted it? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God and it grows when you do something with it. Faith without works is dead.