Here in Georgia, the pine tree is king. Take a hike in almost any park and you find yourself surrounded by pine trees. More specifically you will be surrounded by the Loblolly pine. These pine trees found in Georgia grow to about 80 feet tall. While that is a tall tree, the California Redwood dwarfs the Loblolly pine. One Redwood in particular measured in at 380 feet. Now that is a huge tree. The most amazing part is the size of the seed that it grows from. The seed of Reedwood is about the size of a tomato seed. That’s incredible. The potential for that giant tree is in that tiny seed. That little seed has the roadmap for making that tree. Pretty impressive.
Just like that tree, God’s special DNA is in you. The hard truth is that what you do with that potential is up to you. Just like a seed that is not planted will never become a Redwood, unless we do something with what God has given us we will not become what He intended. This is a tough pill to swallow sometimes. However, the good news is that just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean that the potential is not there. Listen to what the apostle Paul says about this subject.
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
1 Timothy 4:14&15
Paul tells us Timothy received some kind of gifting. He also tells him not to neglect it. He then goes further and says to be diligent and give yourself wholly to it. If you do, Timothy, everyone will see your progress. It will be evident that you have that gifting. Along with this comes the idea that if you are not giving yourself to it, no one will ever know it is there. Ouch! So just because the potential is there doesn’t mean it will automatically be experienced.
So this year what are the things that you need to be diligent about? What things do you need to give yourself wholly to? What things do you need not to neglect? Maybe you want to be a better parent this year. Give yourself to it. Make it a priority. Find a podcast or watch a video or even read a book on parenting. Ask yourself what you can do to be a better parent. Maybe there is someone you admire the way they parent, reach out to them and have conversations with them. Let it be something you think about. When there is an area I want to grow in, I feed myself information about that. Periodically I will listen to something or read something on being a better husband. I do this so I can become better. Not perfect, but better. Most of the New Years’ resolutions fail because we stop giving ourselves to them. The scriptural principle is that whatever you sow to you will reap.
It comes down to the currency of our day. It is not money. The real currency of the day is time. So what are we “spending” our time on? Ok, time for true confessions, I love anything StarWars related. I watch anything Star Wars related. So guess what? If you have any Star Wars questions, I can answer them. If you want opinions about anything Star Wars related, I have way too many of them. You could say that I, embarrassingly, have given my time to it. Because I have given myself to it I know way too much about it. What you give yourself to WILL grow whether good or bad.
We can’t change what has happened already, so we are putting the past in our rearview mirror. The past is the past. We are going to do some proper seed planting. We are going to be careful about what we plant. We are going to give ourselves to the thing that we want to grow in. This year we are going to see the potential of the seed in us grow. This year we are going to be purposeful and see some changes. Let us commit to growing so that everyone around us will see the change that is happening. We may not all become perfect but we will grow when we give ourselves to growing the seed of greatness given by God to everyone. Now is your moment and it is time to GROW!