The Normal Christian Life Is Sowing, Watering, and Cultivating God’s Word
- Jack Selcher
- Sep 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 22
In July 1994, I traveled to Bear Meadows in Centre County, Pennsylvania. I went to pick high-bush blueberries.
They were growing in a 325-acre alpine peat bog. I wore hip boots to keep my feet dry.
I picked about ten quarts but had no part in producing them. Like the black bears that feast on blueberries at Bear Meadows, I was a consumer. Nothing more.
How many professing believers are merely "blueberry pickers" and spiritual consumers?
Their religious focus is the blessings they expect to receive by being a “Christian.” They hope their religion will protect them against foes seen and unseen.
When they or someone they love is sick, they pray earnestly. In a fiscal crisis, they pound insistently on heaven’s door for deliverance.
They relate to God like immature children with no responsibilities to Him or the other members of His family. That is not biblical Christianity.
I overheard a person say, “I am a Christian. I was baptized. I attend church services on Christmas and Easter.”
Does being baptized automatically make one a Christian? Is a two-Sunday-a-year commitment to “Christianity” really following Jesus?
Is it seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33)? Is it denying self to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23)? The Bible does not teach or approve of a faith that does not make our character and conduct more Jesus-like (Romans 8:29).
Jesus said that those following Him fish for people (Matthew 4:19). Becoming a Christian changes our eternal destiny and earthly occupation.
We are fisher people primarily, no matter how we earn our daily bread. The purpose of our born-again lives is to maximize God’s Kingdom harvest. Those who are not born again have no such passion.
All obedient Christians are spiritual farmers. We have complementary roles in the harvest based on our gifts and calling.
But in one way or another, we plant, water, and cultivate spiritual seeds as a way of life. God is behind all spiritual growth (1 Corinthians 3:7), but has chosen to use us to extend His Kingdom.
Jesus told a parable about a farmer who sowed seed in his field (Matthew 13:3). He said that the one who hears and understands God’s word produces a crop 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown (Matthew 13:23).
Producing a spiritual crop is our purpose. That is light-years beyond being a “blueberry-picking” spiritual consumer.
The Sower in the parable is Jesus, the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37). He has passed the responsibility of sowing to us, His followers.
“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’” (John 20:21 NIV).
Sowing, watering, and cultivating God’s word is normal Christianity. That is our occupation after becoming God’s child by grace through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9).
We are collaborators with God in His saving purposes. Our job is to explain and demonstrate what following Jesus means. Spiritual farming is our first-order business. What is your takeaway?
What is your takeaway? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.
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