Planting Seeds and Keeping Faith

Planting Seeds and Keeping Faith

Matthew 8: 5-13   an excerpt:

8 The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, "Go,' and he goes, and to another, "Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, "Do this,' and the slave does it." 10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." 

As a gardener, I have learned many things about God from His nature.  It is the gardener that selects the right place, prepares the soil by plowing, removing weeds and rocks, makes the rows as it should be done, and plant the seeds, and continues to nurture the soil and plants.  But ... IS . IT... the gardener that makes the plants grow and bear fruit?  Not by any means!!  It is the gardener who has faith and does the necessary things for God to then take over and grow everything as it should be done.  I just had to have faith to do my part my earthly father had taught me as a child.

My wife and I opened up an old garden area this year where my father and mother grew a garden over 20 years ago.   I had faith that where father had his garden for 40 years I too could have a garden.  I cut my first cantaloupe from that garden today from exactly where he had planted the same.  It could have been sour and I would have loved it, but it was just as good as if daddy had planted the seed.  You know why it was sweet!  God had grown that cantaloupe for me just as he had done for my father,  I just had to have faith to do the same as my father would have done.

Just as the Centurion had faith in Jesus to heal, he did his part by humbly coming to Jesus for what Jesus could do in his life.

How often we fail to see the need for greater faith in our own life such as faith like the Centurion had in his.  It is through the Holy Spirit God grows our faith, as we are pretty helpless to do so for our selfish selves.

To have the Holy Spirit in your life, we must pray, and pray and pray everyday; share our faith with others, plant seed and bring others to the Faith, believe as the Centurion, "stand still" and watch what God can do in and for your life (Exodus 14:12-14).
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My earthly father taught me more than a bit of gardening skill, in his own private way he set the example depending on our Heavenly Father.  Amen.