THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever planted a seed? What happened to it?
READ TOGETHER
Do you have a real Christmas tree in your house? If you do, I would imagine that you found a tree that was already fully grown and either bought it or cut it down and brought it home. I doubt you planted a seed in a pot and are waiting for your evergreen tree to grow from a sprout to a sapling to a 8 foot beautiful tree.
Why do we buy fully formed Christmas trees? Because seeds take a long time to grow.
Here’s what John says to us about God’s seed being inside of us:
1 John 3:9. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
John is making a couple pretty big statements in this verse isn’t he? First, he says that Christians don’t keep on sinning.
But every Christian that reads this knows that Christians do keep on sinning. Sometimes I sin many times all in one day. Sometimes I sin even when I know better. And sometimes I sin the same sin over and over. What about you?
So to understand why John says that we don’t keep on sinning we have to understand the other really big statement he makes in this verse – we have the seed of God living inside of us.
Wow. That’s huge! God’s own character and nature are implanted into us when we believe in Jesus. This means that we actually can stop sinning. But God’s character, his DNA, is in us as a seed. A teeny tiny growing seed.
So are we full grown trees? Or are we slow growing sprouts or saplings? Are we perfectly formed and ready to be displayed with lights and decorations? Or are we still struggling to break through the dirt and find the light?
If you are a Christian then you can take hope in what you have with Jesus, his own life and love inside of you. But it’s a seed, not a full grown tree. Yes, you have a new nature, but like a baby it must be nurtured and allowed to form and grow. Yes, you can say no to sin, but only as we learn to trust that God loves us no matter what.
Because of Jesus we have the seed (life) of God in us.
With Jesus we can grow and change and say no to sin.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Spend time looking at your Christmas tree (decorating it, lighting it, etc.). Talk about how one day we will be fully formed and beautiful trees displaying God’s love and grace.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
You have shared your own life with me. Help me to say no to selfish sins and trust that you are growing me into your likeness.
Amen.
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