Seeds of Faith

2 Peter 1: 3 -8 – His divine power has given us everything we need for life and Godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance,  godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am struggling to grasp this great promise...for if I believe its message…I must accept the fact that everything I have ever needed to be what Christ wants me to be has been there since I accepted him as my savior.  That sweet day when I was 14…when I asked him to come and live in my heart….Christ brought everything he had…he piled into my small heart everything I needed to become his child. It is hard for me to grasp…cause I never leave a gift unwrapped.  But somehow…over the years…I have done just that..I left the great gifts that God delivered to me unopened…just laying around…tricked by Satan to even forget they were there.

Why do we allow ourselves to be tricked so….to allow the great love of Jesus to just lay there…unused?  Like a new seed package…we tore off the corner and began to plant it…but something distracted us..and we laid the package down…never watered it.  The goodness stayed in the package.. just patiently waiting for us to come back…to realize that we forgot it there…the goodness that God wrapped up in that seed lying dormant….not growing…not yielding a crop at all.

Peter is telling us here how to find that seed and water it….turn it into the mature plant God intended it to be all along…before the world corrupted our salvation with its trickery .  He says we need to fertilize our small seed of faith with goodness….then add to it the word of God which is all knowledge….then add to that small stem that grows from our studies and prayers self-control….and just learn to wait….wait for God to show us his will and guide us to the job he had waiting on us when our faith is mature enough to be controlled only by his mighty spirit.  For his spirit will produce mighty fruit on that faith watered by knowledge and goodness….it will produce the fruit of godliness….the same sweet..kind spirit that dove the son of God to love everyone..even call strangers his brothers.

A well taken care of plant will produce fruit for a long time…so we need to be sure of our calling.  We need to be more like we are on our birthday…or even Christmas morning…when we woke our parents up at the first hint of light and begged them to go down and open those presents.  To keep searching the underside of that great tree for one more package to open…one more gift to unwrap…until we find everything he gave us to make that plant grow strong and mighty…able to discern the truth in any situation….able to see what he provided to help us build a bridge to the next part of our journey with him.

Father…I am so sorry once again this morning  that I have allowed my seed of faith to stay dormant for so long. I thank you so much for standing close enough to me to remind me that it is still there….still a great time capsule with everything I need to be whatever you have called me to be. Help me father to open hat storeroom of tools that you placed in my heart..and begin to cultivate the faith you gave me.  Teach me how to use each tool…open my eyes and ears to understand the knowledge you hid in your word…give me more time to seek you in prayer and really listen to your instructions for each day.  Take that small plant that you have helped me grow..and show me how to add kindness, self-control, and love for others…so that it will grow into a mature plant and start yielding fruit for your kingdom. Amen.