Daily devotional, April 13, 2024 Plant a seed

"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect," 
1 Peter 3:15

In our faith journey, there comes a time when we feel like giving up on someone who has yet to heed our advice to follow Christ. We see the person suffering, we hear her complain, and she continues to ask for our advice, but what we say falls on deaf ears.

And while this may be frustrating, we should take heart that as followers of Jesus there are also limitations as to what we can do. While we are being called to spread the good news of salvation, acceptance of the gospel is something that is decided only by the person concerned. We have to accept that we do not have control over the timing or manner of her acceptance of the truth we are telling her, and only the Lord can open her eyes to it.

Let us take into consideration this passage from St. Paul the Apostle’s First Letter to the Corinthians:

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building." 
1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Our God controls everything. He could even choose to harden the heart of people to teach them a lesson (Romans 9:18). And while He loves us, there will come a time when He will let us endure the natural consequences of our sins so that we can come to our senses and realize that salvation and peace can only be experienced through Him.

"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh," 
Ezekiel 11:19

Like our earthly parents, our Heavenly Father disciplines us by allowing us to experience His corrective hand, and the natural repercussions of the attitude we refuse to change and our persistent sins.

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?" 
Hebrews 12:7

And so when this correction happens, the person being disciplined can hopefully come to her senses, get sick of her sins, and turn towards God. As an onlooker, we can only assure the person that there is salvation in Jesus, and as long as she is willing to confess and repent of her sins, the Lord is faithful enough to cleanse her from it and make her new. 

As the earlier passage mentioned it may take one, two or even more attempts to get her to accept the idea. She may not believe us at first, but if there will be others who will plant the same seeds of faith in her, then hopefully she will hear it when the Lord calls her back into His arms.

As St. Paul the Apostle says it is but realistic to see that people who do not know the Lord will not really think the same way believers think.

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." 
1 Corinthians 2:14

With the above passage, we can then surmise that our role is to faithfully and tirelessly plant seeds of faith that would hopefully bloom and inspire those around us about the truth that saves.

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Hebrews 12:4-12 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: Are you getting tired of sharing the gospel to someone who seems to reject it?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, I praise and thank you for giving me the opportunity to spread the good news of your salvation. Please give me a heart that endures frustrations when I mourn about other people’s rejection of the Good News. Give me an understanding heart that could move on and keep on planting seeds of faith on others. Amen.