I often plant Cole crops early each Spring in my vegetable garden. These plants prefer cool weather to grow and mature, and include Broccoli, Mustard, Kale, and Cabbage. Some seasons I have problems with these plants, because they are sensitive to early hot spells. When the heat comes on too soon, these plants can become stressed and are quickly activated to begin flowering. Sometimes this can happen when the plants are quite small, but most often, just as they start to become productive. This phenomenon is called bolting, and it is a serious problem, since the plant rapidly jumps to flowering mode and bypasses the best stages of harvesting a good crop. The only thing a gardener can do if this happens is pull up the plants and plant something else.
How many of us Christians decide to bolt and go to seed when things get difficult or when the heat suddenly sets its focus upon us? There is a passage in the Gospel of John chapter 6, where Jesus spoke about having faith in Him by using some particularly difficult metaphors. He said, ” I am the bread of life, they who come to me shall never hunger and they who believe in me shall never thirst”. He went on to say ” I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, they will live forever; and the bread I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world”. He said this speaking figuratively, of how He must die, and of His resurrection, so that He might be able to save all those who trust and believe in Him. But these words were hard to understand by many who had followed Him, and upon hearing this, they decided to leave Him and go back to their former lives.
To put our faith in Jesus Christ is the single most important choice a human can make. It is all encompassing, there are great blessings that result, but also distinct trials. Through faith we are allowed to have access into the kingdom of God, but we are also asked to give up the right to ourselves. Most of us are eager to gain the things given, but grudgingly submit to God’s requirement to lose our self for Him. Jesus will never force us to go with Him, He prefaces every invitation with an if; “if any one wishes to follow me, then He must leave all and…” That is when difficulty comes and the great battle of will is waged inside us.
The wonderful part of giving up your life to Jesus Christ, is that His life and Spirit becomes joined to ours, and we begin to gain His strength and wisdom in so many ways. We find character that was never within us before, and a capacity to love that is supernatural beyond anything we understood prior. We soon see His purposes working out through our lives against every odd and in ways that sometimes seem impossible, but true. It is amazing to sense the power of our very Creator at work in our life. He upholds us through trials, and gives us strength to weather affliction, so as we begin to see this at work in our life, we experience a deeper more meaningful joy and purpose.
So when difficulties arise and the urge come to bolt and retreat, hang on to your faith in the life of Jesus Christ. Don’t go to seed, but remain in His presence, for He has a tremendous purpose and incredible blessing to work out through your life.