Be Productive

 

I’ve written before about our pepper plant. It was a runty little thing when I pulled it up out of the veggie garden a few years ago to beat the frost. We kept it inside for the winter and put it out on the porch once the weather turned warmer. It’s now in its third year and, although it doesn’t look like much, it’s becoming more and more productive. We currently have four peppers growing and some additional flowers that might become new peppers.

 

Our little pepper plant has taught me several things.

 

1. Don’t waste your talents. I could have let the first freeze kill it off and start anew the next year but I thought it was worth keeping. In the same way, God values us. He may have a particular task for us to do. There may be others who could do it, but He may want us to do it. We are all called to service. Peter writes, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

 

2. Nurture your gift. I’ve tried to keep the plant healthy by watering it, protecting it from the elements, giving it fertilizer, and spraying it for insects and diseases. We may have a gift that needs to be developed in order to be useful. Paul advised Timothy, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6). We should have the desire to hone the skills God has blessed us with, so that we might bless others.

 

3. Strive to be useful and don’t worry about appearances. The plant isn’t much to look at. It’s unbalanced, the stem has gotten woody, and there aren’t a lot of leaves. None of that really matters because it is fruitful. Jesus cursed the fig tree which had a good appearance but wasn’t producing any fruit (Matthew 21:19). Our goal is to be fruitful without trying to make ourselves look good or worrying about how we appear to the world.

 

4. You’re never too old to be productive. The plant has produced an increasing number of peppers the older it gets. As we age, we may find that we have more to offer and more of an opportunity to serve. We should take advantage of it. There may be things we can no longer do, but we can always do something.

 

Let’s resolve to live productive lives in our Lord Jesus’ service.