Only One Purpose!

Only One Purpose!
written by Chris Baker

Dear friends of mine recently did an overhaul on their lawn. Towards the end of last season, they noticed their lawn was dying. Apparently, it had been getting worse every year. They decided to level the yard off by filling in the low areas with soil. Once the soil had been tamped, they put down grass seed, and covered the areas with straw. Something amazing happened, the grass grew back! Can my friends take credit for this? They arranged all the conditions for growth; fresh soil, grass seed, protection from the elements, but who made the grass grow? 

In today’s devotion the Apostle Paul gives a similar analogy. Take a moment and read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 by clicking here. Many times, we play Hollywood Christian. Meaning, we tend to look at the popular evangelist, large church pastor, you fill in the blank, as being some kind of spiritual giant. Paul plainly says that God assigns each their task. I may preach the Gospel to a coworker for months, then one night during a Christian concert, they give their lives to Christ. Neither I, nor the evangelist, can take credit for that Believers salvation. Granted, we played an important role by providing the proper conditions for growth, but God is the one that caused it to grow! 

We all play a part in the salvation of a soul. Paul says that some plant the seed, some water, but God makes it grow. Therefore, we should not get discouraged when we do not see results. Likewise, we should not pat ourselves on the back when a person comes to Christ. Many people played a part in that person’s salvation and God is the only one responsible for the end result! 

Paul says in verse 8, “the man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose” (NIV). We all have one purpose and that is bringing people to Christ. Listen to this! God is responsible for the growth! Everyone has a different sphere of influence. You will have the opportunity to be a witness to people that I may never meet. You have a unique opportunity to live out an authentic Christian life before them. Take every opportunity to be Christ to them. Maybe you will lead them to Christ and maybe you will not. Regardless, we all have one purpose. There are no Hollywood Christians or spiritual giants. They can take no more credit for the salvation of a soul than you can. They plant and you water, or vice versa, but God makes it grow! 

I hope you are encouraged by this passage. It does not matter if you are an international evangelist or the janitor, a pastor or CEO, a missionary or schoolteacher, pastor a large church or small church, work in the city or country, are poor or make lots of money; we all have one purpose! Preach the Gospel my friends, both in word and action. Let us come together with one heart and one purpose, pointing the way to Christ Jesus our Lord! One plants and the other waters, but God makes it grow!