No Tomatoes

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

OK, imagine this scenario: You love tomatoes so much, you want to have a tomato garden in your backyard. When it came time to cultivate the ground, you didn’t. When it was the right time to plant the seeds, you didn’t. When it was time to water, you didn’t. When it was time to weed, you didn’t. Then one day you go to your backyard where the tomatoes were supposed to be and you’re shocked, “Hey God, where are my tomatoes!?” 

Ridiculous, right? Who, in their right minds, would think that without cultivating, planting, watering and weeding that somehow tomatoes are going to appear? The same is true of our spiritual growth. It’s just as ridiculous to think you can grow without reading your Bible, to become worshipers without worshiping, to serve the Lord while sitting, to get connected with other believers without reaching out to other believers, or to be a witness without witnessing!

If you are a Christ follower, you have grace gifts given to you by God’s grace. Therefore, do what He graciously expects you to do. Paul is a great example. He didn’t use grace as an excuse to be a slacker. He “labored more abundantly than they all.” Still, he understood that all of his efforts as a Christ follower were vain unless graced by God.

We’re about to start a New Year. So, remember that grace is not an excuse to be lazy or sinful. You’ll never get “tomatoes” that way!

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15.10