Slow But Steady
I have been away from home quite a bit this summer, and one of the joys of returning home after a few days away is seeing the difference in my garden. It never ceases to astonish me just how much growth can happen in such a short time. But things don’t just suddenly grow more because I’m away. They are just keeping a steady pace, developing as usual, day by day.
The reason the growth astonishes me is because I see the garden every day. I water, weed, harvest, prune, and trim off dead leaves and flowers. From one day to the next, the amount of growth I can see is limited. But when I look back at pictures I took of the garden in early June, there is a vast difference.
It’s that way in our lives as Christians. We live day to day, walking with the Lord, fighting spiritual battles and, if we’re yielded to the Holy Spirit, seeing daily victories. But so often, we are walking with our eyes so close to the ground beneath our feet, we become discouraged by what seems like very little growth.
I was reminded recently of a season of life that now seems so very far away. The me of today is nearly unrecognizable compared to the me who existed all those years ago. Looking back at my memories of that time, I can see just how far God has brought me, and rejoice in the work He has done.
The reality of past growth encourages and motivates me to keep pressing on, to keep walking close to God day by day. It also gets my eyes off the dust of the pathway and onto the glories God has in store as I continue to follow Him in trusting dependence.
God’s desire for His people has always been growth. Psalm 92:12-15 gives a beautiful description of this:
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the Lord is upright: He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Fruitful, flourishing, growing tall and strong like a cedar, vibrant and healthy like a palm tree. That is what God wants for you and me. But notice that it is the righteous, those “planted in the house of the Lord.” We are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and need the blood of Christ to cleanse us from our sin and make us righteous. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is one of my favorite verses about this relationship between Christ’s sacrifice and the believer’s righteousness:
“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
Because of the blood of Christ shed for us, we are “planted,” in a sense, in the house of the Lord. See what Hebrews 10 says about this:
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh”(v.19)
The blood of Christ gives us the right to boldly enter the very presence of God. This fellowship, this right to God’s presence is a precious gift, partly because God is our source of nourishment and growth. Hosea 14 illustrates this for us. To the unrepentant people of Israel, God promises that if they return to Him, He will restore them to His loving care:
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” (vv.4-6)
Did you notice that God says He will be like dew? One challenge of traveling so much this summer has been keeping my garden watered consistently. The value of dew is that it is not only nourishing, but it is daily. A day without God is a day without nourishment, and yet we so often push God aside to make more room for the things of daily life.
Dear Reader, are you “planted in the house of the Lord” through the blood of Christ? If not, you need to be! Find my “Starting your Journey” page to learn how Christ’s free gift of salvation can be yours.
But if you are one of God’s people, one of the “plants” in His garden, you need daily nourishment from Him. Jesus said in John 15:4,
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.”
We need to be abiding, dwelling, living our lives in constant fellowship and relationship with God. 1 Peter tells us one way of doing this:
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (2:2-3)
We need nourishment, not only from prayer, which is simply talking to God the Father through the Holy Spirit who indwells us, but also from the Word of God, which God gave to us so that we would grow. Neglect of prayer and neglect of time spent reading and studying God’s Word are two guaranteed ways to stunt your growth.
How is it with you today? Are you flourishing, your heart filled with the nourishment of God’s Word and time spent in prayer enjoying His presence? Or are you withering, rejecting your life-giving connection to the Vine, choosing instead to be starved by the world and the daily distractions of your earthly existence?
Dear Reader, choose life!
“I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”John 15:5