August 24, 2022

After planting a garden a couple of months ago, I finally got to pick some peas. I felt like I had entered a new era; the last time I picked peas was when I was a kid because my dad always had a garden and still does. So I picked, shelled, and cooked them, and they were delicious. It was a process to get to harvest. I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t. After clearing the ground, creating rows, planting the seeds, and watering daily, I had to fight the pests. As soon as my plants began growing, I had something munching on their leaves and had to treat them with 7-Dust. After they got a little bigger and started producing peas, I noticed that aphids were causing the growth of the new leaves to stunt. I had to rinse off every bush to get rid of them. I didn’t even mention the weeds! That’s still a fight that I seem to be losing. Not only that, but I get bit by ants every time I try and pull weeds. And that, my friends, is a picture of our lives as followers of Christ. These same trials and tribulations exist as we set our minds to follow him. It’s work. It’s a fight. It isn’t easy, but the harvest is tasty and delicious and worth every ounce of energy and effort we put into our commission to go and tell the world about Jesus. You’ll slay a few pests along the way, and believe me, they will keep coming, but there isn’t anything else I would rather be doing with my time here on earth. God is good so keep moving forward with your mission.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20