Devotional 12-24-14

Taken from Little Seeds of Hope by Karen Moore

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up. I put away childish things.  Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. There are three things that will endure---faith, hope, and love---and the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13:11-13)

The beautiful part of our faith is that it is always subject to growth. We may have greater faith in certain matters than we do in others. We may truly believe God has a plan and purpose for us, but still doubt that we'll figure out what it is. Or we may believe that God sees us and knows us sometimes, but not all the time. That's because our faith walks hand in hand with doubt. Our faith takes a long time to mature. We are always growing.

Consider the rest of the parable about seed of the farmer from Matthew 13. When the soil was not fertilized, the seed died. When the soil was too rocky, the roots did not go deep enough and nothing could grow. When the soil was thorny, the seed got choked in the weeds. It was only when the seeds were planted in prepared soil that they began to grow.

Your heart is the good soil. Your heart is the place where God plants his seeds for faith, hope, and love. He wants to bring more joy to your life, more  possibility to your days, and more opportunity for you to know Him in a real and personal way. God wants you to know how great His love really is. He is the farmer. He offers seeds for faith and hope and love so that you can grow up strong and firm in Him. The One who provides you with air and water and light and food, is the same One who offers you His bounty through faith. He will harvest a great relationship with you, because He knows your heart is ready for Him.

Hope and a Prayer

Lord, You have given us this incredible gift called faith. Like children, we are not always aware of how much we depend on You, or how much faith provides the way for us to go, but we are truly grateful to You. Help us to grow up and become adults strong in our faith, eager to embrace even more faith in every area of our lives. We thank You for Your love even when we can't feel it, for the hope You bring even when we have lost our way, and for the faith that sustains us through all things.

Melanie Herr