Water the Seed…

Last week when we gathered for corporate worship on Sunday morning and candidate Pol began his sermon, I could not help but think of him as a servant tending the garden of his master, sowing his masters seed in the garden. Some of us in the pews are fertile soil, awake and alert; others are like hard soil, sleepy and distracted; still others may be like hard clay or stone (although I hope not!).  I have heard some people cry about the state of our congregation – being pastor-less; groaning about where we are headed, as if they were simply watching the soil waiting for seeds to spout.   Imagine if a pastor had that point of view!  Imagine if after he preached one sermon, he began wondering why nothing has happened yet? If a pastor did that it would be the same as a gardener planting a seed and asking why it has not grown after 10 minutes! Of course anything is possible with God, since God gives the growth. However, typically after seed is sown it must be watered – before any growth will be noticed.

So how do we water the seed of the Word?  Prayer.

We must pray that our Lord would work faith in our hearts and that the seed of the word proclaimed would not fall on rocky ground. I am sure that most of us pray for the pastor and for the word that he will bring on the coming Sunday (if you don’t you should). If you are like me, however, you may forget to pray for the word that was proclaimed last week. What this is akin to is watering the ground before you sow and then after the seed is planted, forgetting about it and not watering it anymore.

How long was the reformation in progress before it actually exploded in Europe?  Men like John Hus proclaimed the Word, and watered it fervently with prayer years before Luther’s eye’s were opened to the gospel truth and reformation swept across Europe. Jonathan Edwards preached for years before revival happened in New England. So, do not fret over the state of the church or the state of the congregation.  ( I personally don’t think it is that bad anyway!) I believe that God is at work in our congregation. Do you? People are being transformed by the renewal of their minds in the Word and I am proof of this! So I encourage you to water the Seed! Water the seed of the Word with prayer! No person, no church, no congregation can remain fruitless if it soaks the seed of the Word in fervent, hungry consistent prayer. So pray with me.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets