Who you are, how you behave, where you go, and along with those, what you say make a tremendous impact on the world. Your influence grows in others like a seed growing into a strong tree.
People hear your faith in Jesus, and even more so they see your faith in Jesus. Your friends on social media. Your neighbors waving and watching. Your children developing character based on your patterns of behavior. Your church family aware of your life decisions, or how you act when your church is making decisions.
"For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations" (Isaiah 61:11).
You are sowing seeds of Jesus all the time. By the way you drive in heavy traffic, how you treat checkout clerks at the store, and appreciating those who serve you like the guys who collect your garbage. By showing kindness to those who hurt you. By the way you remain calm when others panic, or that you become deeply disturbed when others don't care. By the way you obey your parents, study for exams, post on Instagram or party. You are constantly sowing seeds.
A seed starts in the ground and grows to become a towering, enduring, majestic oak tree. The "righteousness and praise" of the Lord start small in your heart by his grace, and then grow to become a towering, enduring, majestic way of thinking and living. Like acorns falling from an oak, you drop seeds of the Lord's righteousness and praise all around.
You never know who is watching. But you do know this—your Lord God is watching. He smiles when the oak drops its acorns, doing what it's supposed to do, praising him. And he smiles when you do the same.
PRAYER: Dear planting God, thank you for causing me to grow in my spiritual life. I want to praise you by planting your seeds in others. Make them grow. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Read Isaiah 61:1-3. Jesus applied these verses to himself. Do you know when and where?
- What are the many ways these words describe Jesus sowing seeds?
- Consider one or two of them that are especially meaningful for your life right now, where Jesus is at work planting.
- What is your purpose in life according to the final sentence in v. 3? How does that make a difference in your plans for the week?
Daron Lindemann
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