This week I started a miraculous process. I prepared some soil in a pot, and I buried a seed in it. I then watered it and placed it where it would receive warmth and sunlight. Sometime in the next 7 to 10 days, those seeds will germinate and a plant will mysteriously emerge from that soil. If all goes well, that plant will grow tall and produce fruit. One of the biggest of many miracles in that process is that a biological and magical machinery that exists inside that seed will draw material and elements from the soil I prepared and transform them into a fruit bearing plant. Without any help or instruction from me, it will build roots, and stems, and leaves, and cellular structures, and more seeds. No one really knows how that works, but somehow it does. As long as I maintain the soil, and keep everything watered, and generally weed free, then it will continue to build itself by growing and producing fruit that everyone can enjoy.
This miraculous process isn’t at all limited to plants and gardens, but applies to people, and especially groups. In fact, the assembly of the church is very much like this. In its midst is a miraculous and magical process. But it does require some specific effort. Just like the gardener has to prepare soil, so do the people in a church. For growth to occur, we must make sure that our soil is rich, nourishing, exposed to the light, watered and ready to accept seed. Then, when seeds are planted, they will germinate, draw material and elements from the soil we’ve prepared, put down roots, and grow stems, branches, leaves, and fruit. Those fruits will then drop seeds and more growth will occur.
This means that the members of a church, which are really members of a body (Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12:14-20), must take their gardening duties seriously. We must make sure that our environment is rich, with plenty of nourishing elements so that seeds can be fed. We must make sure that we are watering that soil, so that life is available for the seeds when they are cast among us. We must be sure that plenty of sunlight is available from which the seeds and plants can draw energy.
Make every effort to unify yourself with the Body of Christ for the purpose of preparing soil, so that God can bring miraculous growth to his church (1 Corinthians 3:6-9). Are you preparing the soil, planting the seeds, or watering the garden? If not, earnestly ask God to show you what service you can provide.
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