The Big Deal


"The ones who do the planting or watering aren't important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God's field, God's building -- not ours." I Corinthians 3:7-9

One of my worst dad moments came when the kids were little. They had decided, with mom's blessing, to uproot a corner of the yard and plant a garden. I, embarrassingly, proved the saying "people get down on what they're not up on." Caught unprepared, I said, "I work hard to mow, trim, and fertilize this grass and I don't want it torn up." It didn't matter that this a great idea -- harmless, fun, and positive. "No garden!", I declared. In so doing, I missed out on an amazing opportunity to feed and water their natural curiosity and wonder. Sadly, I lost track of the big deal. O how I wish I could go back and do that one over again.  

Paul was writing to a church which had lost sight of the big deal. It's easy to do isn't it? They began to emphasize people over God and his purposes. They lost sight of the unseen hand of God at work within themselves and among themselves. It's the Craftsman (God) who is the big deal, not the tools (people he uses to accomplish his purposes). Ultimately, in Christ, we belong to him.

This old world is working very hard to convince us that something or someone else is the big deal. The old lie from the Garden of Eden is alive and well -- "You will become just like God." There is a big deal and his name is Jesus. If our lives revolve around anything other than him, we've lost sight of the big deal too.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wisdom

"God surely knows where it (wisdom) can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth, under all the heavens. He made the winds blow and determined how much rain should fall. He made the laws of the rain and prepared a path for the lightning. Then, when he had done all this, he saw wisdom and measured it. He established it and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity: 'The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding'"  Job 27:23-28 I had an "incident" with the one cup at a time coffee maker the other day. Apparently, the lid that screws on to the mini coffee filter holder is an important part of the process. Who knew? I thought I could make a stronger cup of coffee without it. All I ended up doing was making a real mess that I cleaned up with giggling coworkers nearby. I believe, however, I am now armed with a little more knowledge and wisdom.  Job was a righteous dude. He was wise and well-res...
Read more

Faith in Christ

" How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort." Galatians 3   As my daughter's team laced up their soccer cleats for the championship game, it wasn't looking good. More than couple of the players, including my daughter, were trying to battle through their injuries. They played an aggressive attacking style that allowed them to make it this far. When the game went to halftime, they were shockingly leading by a goal. Inexplicably, the coach made a decision to stop their attack and fall back into a defensive formation. The result was completely predictable - a heart breaking loss.   The Galatian believers that Paul was writing this letter to were at a crossroads. Paul had shared the wonderful news that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, was buried and was raised to life on the third day. All who believe in him will be made right with God. They received it with great joy....
Read more

Made Right

"But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the scriptures long ago. We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done." Romans 3:21-22 "What do I need to do to make this right?" I cannot begin to tell you how many times that I've wished for a customer service representative to ask me this question. Accounting errors, incorrect fees, unannounced pricing changes, wrong orders and the like have resulted in much frustration over the years. How refreshing it would be in those moments to work with someone who wanted me to feel like the wrong was addressed in a satisfactory way. An equally frustrating experience occurs when I am in the wrong and am unable for whatever reason to make things right with someone. Regardless of what side of the coin we may be on, in...
Read more