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Last year I planted a row of radishes and next to it I planted a row of green beans. Radish seeds are really small and some of them landed in my row of green beans.
I keet my garden pretty weed free and got a nice early crop of radishes but I noticed that that the radishes that came up among my green beans were twice as big as the other radishes. Here’s why… green beans are legumes and harvest Nitrogen out of the atmosphere and convert it to fertilizer and enrich the soil. The radishes with better nutrition outperformed the radishes planted only by themselves.
Christians are green beans. They are blessed by God because of their belief in Jesus Christ and are not only hearers but also doers. They enrich the “soil” all around them so others can benefit and grow.
Those stray radishes that leave all their other radish friends and congregate and live among the green beans are changed for the better and when they happen to visit with their old radish friends they are almost unrecognizable to them and the friends wonder… what happened? And think… I can be a better radish if I can find some green beans to associate with.
What kind of green bean are you? Do you make others better in your association with them or are they made worse. Be the right kind of green bean.
Julie and I were gone last week celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on a train ride in Canada. I always take my New Testament with me when we go on trips and was studying out of it on the plane when the stewardess came by and commented… that’s a well-used Bible. You see I make a lot of notes in my Bible… I mean like a lot of notes and I guess that’s what she saw. Julie puts Parkway Church of Christ business cards in my wallet because I’m always talking to people and asking her for a card. So I got one of those cards that she gave me and wrote down my website information… “Uncle Rob’s Blog” and told the stewardess that I write religious articles. She seemed very appreciative.
Let me make a case for having a Bible book instead of the Bible on an electronic device. If I had been using an electronic device she probably would not have recognized it as a Bible and certainly would have not recognized that it was “well used” because it would not have any notes in it and I therefore would not have had the opportunity to share “Christ” with her.
Also when I’m in a Bible study with someone I want them to see a Bible and see that not only can I navigate through it effortlessly but also see from my notes that I have put time into study and am not wasting their time. I hope they can see that I’m just a “regular Joe” just like them with a regular profession who chose to be a dedicated Bible student.
I just got through teaching the High School/Young Adult class. Most of those kids don’t bring Bibles to class. They have their cell phones in their hands presumably reading the Bible from it. Here’s the thing… most of them aren’t. They are texting and giggling and showing each other things. The next time I teach that class (with the parents approval) I’m going to insist that they have a Bible in their hands and if they don’t have one I’ll buy them one.
