Today is National Farmers’ Day. So, to farmers all around the globe, we are so thankful for your hard work as we enjoy the fruits of your labor. In cultivating your crops, you model for us an important lesson. You plant the seeds that sprout and burst forth from the ground. New stems require care, rain, sun, and nutrients in order to stretch and grow and bud, blossoming into life-giving food.
Just like a seed, when you accept Jesus, He gives you a measure of faith and you burst into new life. But more is required for you to stretch, grow, and blossom into a life-giving vessel. If you starve yourself of nutrients, your growth and ability to blossom is stunted.
Just as Moses was chosen to free the Hebrew slaves, Elijah was chosen to call down fire from heaven at Mount Carmel, and John the Baptist was chosen to cry out in the wilderness “make way for the Lord,” YOU TOO have been CHOSEN. Always remember, many are called, but few are chosen.
Many have told me they are too shy to share Jesus, saying they can read the Bible and go to church, but beyond that, they don’t have what it takes. According to 2 Peter 1:5-8, if you are diligent to add to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love you will not be barren or unfruitful. So, the formula for being a life-giving vessel for Jesus Christ and His kingdom is: faith+virtue+knowledge+self-control+perseverance+godliness+brotherly kindness+love. But, what does that look like and how do you go about doing it?
First, add virtue, or moral behavior, to your new faith in Jesus. Examine how you behave. Is there any behavior that needs to change? Next is knowledge. How do you attain the kind of knowledge to which this verse refers? You must spend time in God’s word and meditate on it. You can do that on your own, but you also need to sit under the teaching of those more knowledgeable, such as in church or elders in your family.
Self-control might be one of the hardest things to add to the formula for fruitfulness, but it’s necessary. Webster says it is the restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires. You’re probably getting the idea. The formula is not complete without perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will blossom into the beautiful vessel your Lord and Savior chose YOU to be.