With this in mind, we constantly pray
for you, that our God may make you
worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and
your every deed prompted by faith. 2 Thessalonians 1:11 NIV
When we receive Christ, he gives us the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit begins to transform our lives with the goodness of the kingdom of God and gives us a desire to plants seeds of that kingdom goodness. We begin to
discover that the good life is the good life.
This doesn’t
mean that doing good in this world becomes a smooth ride. Jesus said (Matthew 13:18-23) that when we
hear the message of the kingdom it will grow and bear fruit in our lives, but
also that the deceitfulness of wealth and the worries of this world can choke
out the life of this message. This means that if we don’t take initiative to
plant kingdom goodness in the world, kingdom fruit will not continue to
grow in and through us.
This week, set
aside some quiet time to ask: “What good is God prompting me to plant in this
world?” God wants to reproduce his
goodness in you and through you, so you can be confident that he will use you
to be a planter of goodness. Once you
have answered this question, ask God to give you wisdom about what specific seed of
goodness you can plant this week. It might be
an act of kindness toward your neighbor.
It might be prayer for your coworkers.
It might be
serving the poor or getting more information about a ministry that interests you in your community. Plant a seed as
soon as you can so you are not distracted and then get ready to plant more seed as God leads you.
