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.  

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