I guess growing up in Central Arkansas and being surrounded by wheat and rice fields as a child; I am still attuned to the agrarian side of the gospel teachings. When Jesus talks about the sowing, the tending and the harvesting I understand that. In 1st Corinthians 3, Paul talks about how one person plants and someone else waters by sharing the message of the Gospel. The sowing of the seed. But it is God who gives the growth.
The Didache tells us to spend time with and give respect o people who speak Christ into our lives. The ground of our souls is like the hard baked fields I saw as a kid. It takes cultivation and a lot of water to get anything to grow. When we spend time with other Christians the dirt gets turned over and the ground gets watered and God helps us grow in him.
Who Do You Spend Time With?
Because of our ever busying lifestyles in the 21st century, we may not be able to spend time with people physically. Again, when I was a child, we went to church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. We had a revival meeting a couple of times a year. We spent time with other Christians. Now it’s hard to get people to show up for Sunday morning services, let alone two other times a week. Life has become almost unmanageable for many people.
Through technology, we can watch church form home and still interact with people by chat messages during the service. We can spend time with people we don’t even know through podcasts and online meetings. I have several podcasts from priests, pastors, and teachers that I enjoy learning from and who I believe speak into my life. I may never meet these men and women, but they have cultivated and watered my soul for years.
God Wants To Grow Us
We don’t have any excuses today to not have people in our lives to water our souls. Getting directions for living a Christian life and being taught how to hear God’s voice from people who have been there is essential to growth. Letting other Christians literally plow into our souls and break up the hard ground, allows the seeds of faith to take root and grow.
While we can’t control what happens God is in control. Through the cares and fears of the world, God is there with us even when we can’t sense him. God is helping us grow and hold us up to the light of the sun so we can be nourished and fruitful. And when we feel like we need watering, we can turn to the other Christians in our lives to encourage us on our journey.