Growing in grace
…These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb…
Revelation 14:4 (NET)
I wonder if, like me, you are intrigued by Charity shops?
When younger I loved fishing, and I suppose the excitement of not knowing what might be hiding in a riverbank has now spilled over into the excitement of wondering what I might find in such a shop. The other day I was in Norwich and came across a small package hidden away behind some bric-a-brac. Only 50p so it hardly broke the bank.
It was a small, one-inch square, rectangular, fibre container which held two tiny packages, a thimble size rock-hard pellet of soil and a little square muslin wrap containing four radish seeds, one at each corner. According to the label the pack was quite a few years old.
Once home I soaked the hard soil pellet, which soon expanded to fill the container, into which I was informed to place the four seeds, half way down. Instructions told me to put the pot on a windowsill and both water it, and wait.
Only a day later each of the seeds timidly showed up, and day by day have grown ever bolder both in height and structure. It’s now a week and, true to form, as I daily add a little water, the stems are now double the height of the small pot itself.
So you may ask what is surprising about all that? Just this:
I noticed, as I followed the instructions and remembered to add water each day, that when the shoots emerged they soon turned to the sun and tracked its movement to sunset, slowly growing upwards all the time.
We ourselves all come in different small ‘packages’, yet many people around the world are hidden from view for much of their lives. But when God calls a person, at a certain time in their life, and ‘activates’ them with the ‘watering’ of the Holy Spirit, then (and only then) can our dry, dormant nature respond to God (Isaiah 44:3), and so doing grow and rise to follow the Light of the Son wherever He leads.
Simple – yet utterly profound.
Just the seed of an idea…
Prayer
Thank you, Father, that we too can grow in grace and in knowledge of Jesus Christ, and can flourish and grow following you wherever You go. Amen.
Study by Tony Goudie
About the writer:
Tony Goudie is a minister and pastors the Essex congregation of Grace Communion International
Local congregation:
GCI Essex
Beaulieu Community Centre
Beaulieu Square
Centenary Way
Chelmsford
CM1 6AU
Meeting time:
Saturday 1pm
Local congregational contact:
Tony Goudie
essex@gracecom.church
John Radley
johnradley@gmail.com.
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church