Lodge Service

Faithful to complete it

Have you ever started a project and finished it? Some people like to take a 1000 piece puzzle and put it together. For farmers, it starts at seeding time and ends with a harvest.

For me, when I start something and finish my project, when I have accomplished what I set out to do, there is great pleasure.

We’ve been given a promise in Scripture that God is doing a work in us too.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

The writer of this verse is the Apostle Paul. He said that he was confident that God had begun a good work in the people he ministered to in Philippi.

He starts a good work

When we give our lives to Jesus, He starts a good work in us. He doesn’t just start a work in us, but He starts a good work in us.

One thing that I remember when I was growing up is when my mom used to garden. I also have seen some gardens that were only weeds.

My Mom would take time and make sure that the soil was ready to plant. She would make straight rows and she would rake out any small stones or clumps of dirt.

Before long, the rows of plants would start to emerge: Lettuce, beans, corn, peas, potatoes, carrots, Swiss-chard. She would put out the bedding plants and water them until they would get rooted.

Planting was a big part of gardening, but it was just the beginning. There was much more to do.

When we commit our lives to Christ, it’s just the beginning. He starts a good work in us. He tills the soil of our hearts and starts planting the good seeds, but His work has just begun.

Ephesians 2:8–10 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jesus not only starts a good work in us, He completes it.

After my Mom had planted the garden, she spent many hours weeding it. She would let me weed the bigger plants like the potatoes or the corn but she would weed the beets, the carrots and the lettuce. She knew the difference between the weeds and the good plants.

If we were short of rain, it would be necessary to water the garden so it wouldn’t dry up. Before long, it was harvest time. It was time to shell peas and tail the beans. Of course canning and blanching were also necessary.

Just as Mom would make sure that the garden was healthy and doing well, as we allow Christ to work in us, He will pull out the weeds that would try to choke out the word of God. God has given us the Bible so that we can be fed and that we can grow and as we apply God’s word to our hearts, God’s work is completed in us.

I want to close with a story that Jesus told. In Matthew 13:3-9

Matthew 13:3–9 NIV

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Jesus is the farmer. Let’s open our hearts to Him so that He can sow His word into the good soil in our hearts. Let’s allow His word to nourish is and the Holy Spirit to weed the sin out of our hearts.

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Let’s pray

I’m confident that He who began a good work in you will complete until the day that Jesus returns.