Coco Calling No.270 - The Soil Beneath Our Feet

My owner likes to grow all kinds of things each year, and the garden outside is now a blaze of different colours. At the beginning of the year, he takes over a part of the kitchen with his pots and seed trays to give all of his plants the very best start. And I like to go along with my beak and test out all of the soil. If it’s damp, I leave it alone. If it’s dry, I like to chew it all up and make an awful mess on the floor, so that he knows he needs to water again.

And over a great many years, my owner has learnt through trial and error how to help his plants to thrive. It’s a rather more complex business than simply dropping a seed into the soil and expecting it to germinate and flourish. The soil needs to contain nutrients and water and air. Each plant needs to get the right amount of light and warmth. Pests have to be kept at bay, and a little extra care is required during extremes of weather.

And our Christian journeys are very much the same. A seed of faith won’t germinate inside us if we’re too preoccupied with other things. And if it does germinate, then it will only grow if we provide it with the right environment in which to develop. And if the growth is weak, when the storms of life come along, that little soupcon of faith can be snuffed out altogether.

A Christian gardener knows that our faith has to be nurtured and cared for if it is ever to develop into its full potential. And that potential can be something quite extraordinary. For out of a tiny acorn can rise a might oak. And out of a one-inch egg can sprout a Christian parrot just like me!

“There is no plateau in the Christian life. We are either growing closer to Christ’s likeness or we are falling away.”

(Aimee Byrd: [D. of B. unknown]: Current and controversial American Bible study teacher, author and speaker)

“Christians who are strong in the faith grow as they accept whatever God allows to enter their lives.”

(Billy Graham: [1918 – 2018]: Prominent American evangelist)

“We become Christians by faith in Jesus, we stay Christians by faith in Jesus, and we grow as Christians by faith in Jesus.”

(J. C. Ryle: [1816 – 1900]: English evangelical bishop and first Anglican bishop of Liverpool)

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”                                       

(Colossians 2:6-7)