Gentle Reminder

I was praying yesterday morning that the Lord would show me how I could walk closer with Him, how I could make Him proud, and I asked that He show me in a very real way. I've been disheartened by some stress in my career and ambition over the last several weeks that frayed me emotionally, and I was having a hard time getting pointed back in the right direction.

I serve every Sunday as the leader of our church nursery. I coordinate and minster to the volunteers, and I work to make sure every child is presented with a clear image of Jesus in the hours they spend with us. Last Sunday was tough, but I felt God with us! Hill Country Bible is a mega-church by most standards, and last Sunday we had the yearly "Child Dedication Ceremony". As you can imagine, our numbers were through the roof, and that was clearly reflected in the nursery's headcount. That was exacerbated by two classrooms worth of teachers in the neighboring toddler hall that weren't present, forcing their leader into a teacher role, and leaving me to handle both sections. Babies were crying, and I would fly in, carry them with me as I managed my weekly tasks, and when they were calmed and comforted, I'd take them back to their regular teachers.

By the time I made it to worship, I was dripping with sweat, my arms aching from a genuine work out, and I was ready to collapse. As I settled in next to my wife, the sermon began, and my prayer was answered. Pastor Tim Hawks preached a wonderful sermon on the same parable of the sower I started this blog with. He pointed out that so often ministers preach this lesson with a "Fire and Damnation" slant designed to scare people into salvation. Admittedly, it makes for good preaching, but that is not at all what Jesus was talking about in this story.

Look at the last verse Jesus teaches about the good soil results;


"But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:23 NIV


Jesus was talking about being fruitful, kind of like when His Dad blessed humanity saying,

"Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
Genesis 1:22 NIV

We need to be making new disciples! We will be judged by the fruit of our labor, and for a guy who has a hard time keeping goldfish alive, that scares me slightly. Still, the answer to my prayer was clear. I need to stay committed to what I start! I need to keep track of the people who I'm building into, and I need to keep my eyes focused on the Lord's work at all times, regardless what I'm doing.