For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. – 2 Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)

Our sunflower finally bloomed this last week and it was well-worth the wait.  It reached a bit over 9 feet tall and the bloom is about the size of a dinner plate.  I am hoping to get a good amount of seed from the flower head and will be saving some to plant next year.  We had other plants that did not fare as well.  They stopped growing and produced little or no harvest.  To be fair to the plants, it may have been human error that caused their downfall, but they gone nonetheless with nothing left behind.

We do not have the same excuse as the plants.  Just a few verses before the passage above, Peter is clear that God “has given us everything we need.”  If we don’t grow, we have to look at ourselves.  If we don’t keep moving forward, we will move backward.  If we don’t yet have in ourselves all that is Christ, we still have room to grow.  We need everything Christ has for us.

Our sunflower apparently got everything it needed, or at least most everything.  It is strong, healthy and it is bearing fruit.  When we allow ourselves to be “gardened” by God, we will get everything we need; we will be strong, healthy and fruitful.

Lord, help me to be deeply rooted in who You are and what You desire.  May my life bear much fruit as You pour everything I need to be Your servant.  Let me have a life that reflects Your character “in increasing measure.” Amen.