Scripture

Numbers 13:17-18,20 (New International Version)

When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.…How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”

Consider

I once took a horticulture class, and our professor emphasized the importance and distinctiveness of soil. “Don’t call it dirt!” he said. “Soil has both structure and function to support living growth.”

Soil provides a medium for anchoring plants and for bringing them life-giving resources. The substance and texture of soil determine its efficiency in making water, oxygen, and nutrients available to the plant’s root system. Poor soil produces weak plants because it blocks access to these vital resources. Rich soil, on the other hand, allows free access and thus supports the plant’s potential for healthy growth and abundant fruit.

Like plants in nature, we find ourselves rooted in the world, where God’s life-giving grace flows from person to person through the medium of relationships. For this reason God calls us not to live our lives in isolated communion with him but rather to live out our faith in intimate community with other people. The fruit of his Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—find expression primarily through relationships. By God’s design, his kingdom on earth spreads and produces fruit through our connections with one another. Divine love flows from one person’s life into another’s, the receiver becoming the giver, the one who is shown mercy becoming the merciful.

Even as we are rooted in our relationships, however, we do not draw our life from them. As Jesus declared, we are in this world but not of this world. We are of Him. Just as soil itself has no life-giving properties, our relationships by themselves cannot sustain us. It is God who sustains us, his Spirit who gives us life and purpose. Our best relationships, therefore, encourage our reliance on God, provide a medium through which we can share the love and grace we receive, and help us to bear good fruit for the kingdom.

Pray

FATHER, how glad I am that you are a relational God! You made my very being for relationship with You and with other people. Help me to fulfill my purpose of spreading your kingdom by being soil that allows your Spirit freedom of movement in my relationships. Show me where I am blocking another’s access to your grace by my selfish words or behaviors. Teach me to rely on You and not on other people for the life-sustaining resources I need.

Reflect

Matthew 13:23; John 17:14-15

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How can words and actions encourage the Spirit’s movement in a relationship?