Momentum For Monday, March 14th 2022
“Work from the heart for your real Master, for God…” (Colossians 3:23)
I've previously told you guys how my parents have had a garden every year since I was a kid. What I may not have told you is how much I hated it when I was younger. It was fun to plant and all, but come summer time, that bad boy had to be maintained. And one of my most hated chores was weeding the garden.
Instead of being smart and getting up early to do it, we'd be lazy kids (my brother, sister, and I) and wait for the heat of the day before we did it. Sleeping in during the summer was much higher on our priority list, even if it meant sweating buckets while completing chores. Well, that was until my brother had a "genius" plan…
You see, one of my brother's other chores was to mow and trim the lawn. Being so, he know how to use the weed eater (do you see where I'm going with this?). One day, instead of plucking weed by weed in the heat, I hear my brother behind me warning my sister and I to, "Stand back. I've got this." Then he went to town on the garden with the weed eater. Shreds of grass and lord knows what, were flying everywhere.
It was a great idea in theory, but the weeds grew back quickly since they were merely trimmed instead of uprooted (and I think he may have taken out a tomato plant or two). This meant that we had to weed the garden sooner and there were more weeds than the last time. We doubled our work because of laziness and irresponsibility. And don't think for a second my parents didn’t noticed our shoddy hack-job and punish us either.
The thing is, I always loved fresh from-the-garden tomatoes or fried zucchini, I just hated having to tend to the garden. But the principle of the matter is that if you want to enjoy a harvest, you have to do more than plant. Growth requires maintenance- in life and in gardening.
I don't know about you, but I often pray and focus on improving and growing in certain areas of my life. What I have to realize is that in order to meet those goals, I have to change what I'm doing on my end of things, and not just for a certain season if I want long-term, lasting results. Even in spiritual matters, if I want growth, I have to be willing to be disciplined and faithful on my end to maintain that blessing of improvement. It is irresponsible of me to ask God to do something in my life that I am not willing to sustain.
Whatever area in your life you're praying for harvest, think long-term. Don't be like silly, lazy kids that try to short-cut your part. No hack-jobs, y'all.
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
(1 Corinthians 10:31)