Devotions with Pastor Michael

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 12:23)

This past year my family and I had our best year with our garden. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. The smell of the dirt as it is tilled in the spring, the first sight of new plants emerging in the spring, and the last of freshly picked produce—the whole thing is something I really enjoy.

However, a garden requires regular, almost daily, attention. Leaving the garden unattended for one week can be disastrous. Between tiling and harvest, there is planting, watering, pruning, keeping an eye out for pests, and worst of all—weeding. I despise weeding.

The effort it takes to grow a crop is great. But weeds… somehow they just happen. They are the first to sprout and the last to die. They need no nurturing to flourish and seem to be able to survive in the worst of conditions. These products of the curse take up valuable nutrients which ultimately hurts the plants we want and diminish crop yield.

You know life is a lot like this—in particular discipleship. Growing in our relationship with Christ takes deliberate effort, constant attention and time. Yet somehow, like weeds, bad habits and attitudes quickly creep in. They just appear and before we know it, they choke the joy of the Lord right out us. They distract us from our fruit-bearing purpose.

Today, I simply want to remind you to tend to your relationship with God. If there are some bad habit or attitudes that have crept in, they need to be removed. Eventually, as we tend to our relationship with God, there will be a great harvest when we are rewarded for our diligence with some delicious, life-giving fruit.

-Pastor Michael