Consider the flowers of the field, how they grow. Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon. All these simply are—yet what a powerful sense of God they convey! Now think of yourself. God has designed you to convey his influence. Are you letting him? So often we get in God’s way by making a self-conscious effort to be useful and consistent.
Jesus taught that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentrating on God. “Whoever believes in me, . . . rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). Jesus is saying that growth in spiritual life doesn’t depend on how much attention we pay to our own progress; spiritual growth depends on how much attention we pay to our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows everything about our individual circumstances. If we keep our concentration on him, we will grow as the flowers of the field grow, without self-consciousness getting in the way.
The people who influence us most aren’t those who corner us and preach at us. It’s those who live like the flowers in the field and the stars in the sky—perfectly, simply, and naturally. Theirs are the lives that shape us. If you want to be useful to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ, and he will make you unconsciously useful every minute you live.
