PASTOR’S CORNER, Pat Mann, President of Good Samaritan Auxiliary
Colossians 2:7 TLB "Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done."
The soil is really important. The part of the plant that we don’t see under the ground is as important as the part above ground.
Jesus told about a sower who went out to sow seed. He just tossed out the seed everywhere he went. Some of the seed fell on walking paths, where the birds quickly came and took it away - no produce. Other seed fell on ground that had rocks under the surface, so the roots could not go down deep. The plants that came up quickly also dried up quickly. Other seed fell where there were weeds. The plants grew, but the weeds were healthier than the plants, and they choked out the young plants. Some of the seed fell on good, fertile ground and produced a bountiful crop.
I should have read this parable before I tried to grow tomatoes. Tomatoes need space and good soil to make deep roots that can spread out. For the sower, at least 25 percent of his seed fell on good ground. We can’t always tell the condition of the soil – the hearts of those into whom we plant the seed of God’s salvation.
In the Christian life, the verse above in Colossians tells us to “let our roots grow deep into Him”
If you want deeper roots in your Christian growth, be faithful in Bible reading, prayer, worship, and obedience. Take no short-cuts.
My tomatoes finally did better the next year -had some blooms, and tomatoes finally popped out from some of the blooms. The tomatoes became ripe in July, about the time we left for our two-week trip to Alaska, so the family we enlisted to occupy our house while were away, feeding our cats, bringing in mail and newspapers, taking care of other several chores, they got to eat all the delicious ripe tomatoes while we were away.
Well, that’s all right. Whether we produce tomatoes or Christian fruit, it is going to be about others. When Christians grow to a higher level of spiritual maturity, it will be about others. The fruit-producing Christian will be sharing his testimony and truths from the gospel to those who are hungry and thirsty for truth.
A local minister who came to Good Samaritan Center to lead a devotional , told us that many people are physically thirsty, but they don’t know they are thirsty. He said we really need three quarts of water a day. Just because people don’t feel thirsty does not mean they are not thirsty. As Christians, we must be about providing that eternal life-giving water of life to a world that is thirsty for real meaning and purpose to life found in Jesus Christ.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 KJV.
