Articles
Hardworking Like A Farmer
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God' (Acts 7:55-56)."
If we had the opportunity to see what Stephen had seen before his death, then we would probably be kicking ourselves into gear every day for God without hesitation. But we are not Stephen, and we have many responsibilities that can become distractions like jobs, mouths to feed, distractions, etc. It can be all too easy for life to come first and God to come second. Therefore, we must do our best to be hardworking farmers of faith(1 Corinthians 3:5-9).
If a farmer neglects his duties he will lose his crop, just as if we neglect our spiritual growth we will lose the word of God in our hearts. We as Christians must make sure that we are continuing to grow our roots and remain grounded in Christ so that we and those around us can properly flourish in the prosperity that is Jesus Christ. If we decide to become grounded in the world instead of Christ, we would lose the purest love we could ever know and the only love that can truly protect us from the cruel intentions of the world around us (Luke 8:13-14, Matthew 16:25).
Job 42:2 says it best: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” I will not speak for God’s purpose for us individually, but He has granted some insight into this through His word. We know He has given us the greatest two commands, to love God and others (Matthew 22:36-40). God has given us gifts for His purpose in our lives with one of them being to serve others (Corinthians 12:5; 1 Peter 4:10-11). We are to study God’s word and put it into practice because that is when light will shine over darkness (James 1:17; Joshua 1:8; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:105; Colossians 3:17).
Let us be the best farmers we can be, for we are given so many opportunities with the time we are given. Let us choose to put God and His love over this world and worry. Today and every day, let us take a deep breath and a step back from the world to be thankful and to see the little gestures we can do to grow and show love!
