Time to grow?

A seed sown without the proper nutrients will die, a seed that grows before its time will grow, but may not grow properly, even yet a seed that stays in the soil long after it was supposed to grow will die... There is a time and a place for everything, God sees, He knows.

This is something I told myself last year. And to be honest since then, time and time again I have had the image of a seed being planted in my head. So i went to read up the process through which a seed is planted and the conditions needed for a seed to grow. Now the timing of the seed is very important, growth before its time could lead to a sick plant, staying in the ground for too long would lead to death, also imprtant to note are the nutrients necessary for the growth of a seed; water, air and warmth. In actuality it is the presence or lack of these nutrients that could lead to the seed growing before its time or dying after its time. The right balance however will bring forth a healthy plant.

Out of botany and into healthy christian living. Now when a seed is planted, it lies dormant (literally dying). In the same way when we give our lives to Christ, when we repent, we are like seeds being planted. The way we live our lives as christians is very dependent on what happens after we are planted. Now while we are still seed we should literally die to all that was in us, all that made us before we were saved, all that is off the world. Paul put it quite simply in his letter to the Ephesians (Eph 4:22-24), it says;
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Put of the old that is the first step, putting on the new is the step that follows immediately after. Why immediately after? Because the time spent having nothing to replace the old nature will yield into a state even more worse than your initial state (Matthew 12:45). Now the time spent putting off the old and putting on the new, will determine the length of time spent as a seed. Now it is not just enough to talk about putting off the old and putting on the new. What is the old nature? The old nature is anything that has to do with the world, your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Also we have anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language (Col 3:5-8). Quite a list if you read through but then it is everything that has to do with our old nature. This is where the period of dormancy is for us christians, this period of putting off the old and putting on the new because some of us spend our whole lives dormant, spend our whole lives struggling to put off, and so never mature, we never grow into the people God meant for us to be.
With a seed there are three essential ingredients needed to grow, air, water and warmth. Like the seed, for healthy christian living, three essential ingredients are needed, water which is the word of God, air which is fellowship with God and man and warmth which is love. So many times we have had new christians cast out and abandoned, left to sort themselves out, so many times we have left fellowship with brethren as not important, we have left fellowship with God through our praise and worship, so many times we have left the study of the word of God. The result? We find ourselves drifting, wondering why we are not growing, we find ourselves staying dormant for far longer than we are supposed to be, leading to a time lapse between the putting off and the putting on. Leading to exposure to things we would normally be shielded from.

Water to wash us clean, daily. A constant renewal of our mind to mend and correct us when we stray.
Air to breathe and to give life, constant fellowship with God and our brethren, gives us the energy we need to go on.
Warmth for the times when we lie cold. The times we feel lonely and it seems like we cannot go on anymore.

Too much water we drown the seed, too much of the word for one that does not understand can only leave one more confused. Too much air has never been a bad thing, but just air simply will not do during cold times, having just air will not help wash us, correct us and keep us clean. Love without the word and without fellowship can easily be confused especially during the seed stage. Without the guidance gotten from fellowship and from the word, the search for warmth can easily lead one astray.

So many times seeds have been planted and forgotten and I remember the parable of the sower, there Jesus focused on the types of soil, but then in this time and age, we do have the time to properly prepare the soil before we plant the seed, to ensure that not one goes to waste. One lost seed is as important to God as the whole harvest. There is plenty joy in heaven when one soul is turned to God.
Jesus said whosoever receives one of these little ones receives me (Mark 9:36), And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea (Mark 9:42)

Now back to the topic, where are you at the moment? Are you dormant at the moment, or freshly planted? If you have been dormant, for how long? As I mentioned earlier, a seed can only be dormant for so long, after a while, the seed dies, and I mean dies. I leave you to ponder the implications of that.
One last passage as food for thought;
Jude 1:5
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

God has not changed, He is the same yesterday, today and forever.