It's That Time of Year...

One of our members, Jim Monroe, once gave me an excellent piece of advice on how to have a plush green lawn. He said, ‘I only know two things about grass seed.  It won’t grow if it is still in the bag and it needs water.”  

 Well, it is that time of the year when many folks are plugging or aerating their yards, spreading grass seed, and clothing it with a thin layer of straw, all in the hopes of having a great lawn come spring.  Growth never happens overnight.   It takes time and care and patience.
 
I’ve thought about what Jim shared and think it applies to most of life:  “It won’t grow if it’s still in the bag and it needs water. “  Jesus said the same sort of thing about seeds and life and growth.  The sower has to sow them; they won’t grow in the bag.   Children and youth, and all of us, won’t learn the Bible and grow if we are not in Sunday school or attending a Bible Study.  We won’t worship God if we’re not in worship.  We won’t experience the warmth of Christian fellowship if we don’t participate in all the wonderful ministries like Mustard Seed Groups and Circles, Youth Fellowship, Senior Link and the other myriad choices.   Like grass seed, we won’t sprout and grow and come to life if we stay in the bag.

And then comes the water.   Now, to be honest, I am jealous of my neighbors who have sprinkler systems that automatically water their lawn.   I have to lug out the hose and sprinkler and keep moving it around.   Most of the time I just leave it up to the good Lord to water my lawn.  

I think it happens a lot like that in church.   We lean on the goodness of each other, and especially the work of the Holy Spirit to quench our thirst; we let God do the watering.   No wonder Jesus talked about “living water” that comes from Him and Him alone.

Yep, Jim was right.  “It won’t grow if it is still in the bag, and it needs water.”   Same with us.