Monday Moment: All You Have To Do

All you have to do

is decide what to do

with the time that is given you.

-J. R. R. Tolkien

While planting a few shallots and herbs this weekend, I got to looking closely at what exactly I was planting. Have you ever tucked a seed or bulb into the ground after carefully examining it? The act of gardening is an act of faith in itself, because seeds and cloves and bulbs look like a waste of time. They look dead. Expired. How could something wonderful or edible possibly come from something so dried up and small?

Most seed stays viable between one and three years. Amazing, when you think of it. But this stuff looked iffy. I knew the quickest way to determine whether seed will germinate is to take two damp paper towels, tuck the seeds between them, seal it inside a plastic baggie, and wait until 7 or more sprout. If they do, plant away; it's viable seed.

The Bible talks a lot about seed. I looked it up this morning in my battered Bible. Skipping over the poetry in Isaiah 55, the Parable of the Sower in the Matthew 13, and the "faith the size of the mustard seed" bit in Matthew 17, I ended up in I Peter 1: 13-25. The topic of the section in my Bible was: BE HOLY. Oh geez. Not today. I prepared to skip over that, too.

But I didn't. I read. Hey listen, the passage said to me, as long as you're depending on a God who deals with everyone's deeds impartially, live your life like you're only here temporarily. Because you are, after all. Your home is in heaven. And now that you've set yourself apart by trying to obey God, love each other deeply. From the heart. Because you've been given a new life - not from perishable seed, but from imperishable; you've been given a new life through the living and enduring word of God.

Wow. This pulled at my ears and banged on my heart. It really dealt with me. Because I am, right now, having a hard time living like I'm here temporarily. I'm treating fleeting hurts like eternal suffering. I'm labeling a tough break a "ruined life". And I'm having a hard time loving. Forgiving. Especially from my torn-to-shreds heart. Shame on me. I don't have much time. And I've been given an amazing life - viable seeds, not dead ones - through the promises of a watching and knowing God.

Let's be real: sometimes, when you hold your Bible in your hands... when you examine this whole Christian life thing closely... it does look improbable. A waste of time, even. Just like those seeds and cloves and bulbs. Yet as any good gardener will tell you, it's not. One shriveled seed can bring about decades of blooms. One bulb can produce seasons of flowers. God - through His Word - is the same way. His promises to us aren't small. They're not perishable. They don't expire in one to three years. We don't have to wonder if He's going to come around after all. We don't have to worry about whether we're wasting our time plodding around down here on earth.

I adore the Tolkien quote. We've been given time, now all we have to do is decide what in the world we'll do with it. The Bible says: Don't waste it. You've been given good seed... seed that won't die. Run with that. Use that. And love each other deeply. From the heart.

And so I'll try. I'll try my best. Even as I plant my seed and water my cloves and bulbs, I'll try. I won't be perfect, but it's a start.

All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given you....

Monday Moment is a modest little devotional

to help kick-start your week. See you again next time!