The apostle Paul in speaking of Christians said, “Ye are God’s husbandry,” 1 Cor. 3:9.  If you will examine the Greek text you will find that a more proper rendering would be, “Ye are God’s field.”  Greek scholars tell us that the Greet term from which husbandry is translated in our common version signifies a cultivated field.  It answers to the Hebrew word sadeh, which means a field sown and under cultivation.  From this you will be enabled to yet more fully understand the true position you occupy under God.  You are his fertile field, where he has under cultivation the precious fruits of the kingdom of heaven.  The Husbandman has rooted up every plant that he has not planted, and sown there the seeds of righteousness.

Not only are your hearts the “garden of the Lord” where blooms the “rose of Sharon” and the “lily-of-the-valley” in all the sweetness of their fragrance and beauty, but they are also the Lord’s fertile field, where the amiable Christian graces are to bud, bloom, and bear fruit.  Your duty as a Christian is to bear fruit for God, that he may be glorified.  Every fruit-bearing branch, therefore, he purges, that it may bring forth more fruit.  The successful farmer carefully removes all the foreign growth out of his field, and then cultivates his plants, that he may reap the greatest possible harvest.

Delicious fruits are brought from the tropical clime to this land of ours, and they awaken in our hearts an admiration for that delightsome country.  We long to travel through those sunny lands.  You are God’s fertile field.  In your life has been placed the beautiful fruits of the heavenly land.  As this world looks upon your life and beholds these fruits admiration will be awakened in their hearts for the fruitful fields of heaven.  They will be influenced by your life to seek the kingdom of God and its riches, that they may taste of its fruits now and forever.  If you will walk with God and live devoted to him, those precious fruits of the Spirit will become more plentiful and beautiful in your life as you journey down the way, making you a greater blessing to the hearts of others.  To this end you must live.

A GAZING-STOCK.

In Heb. 10:33 it is said that Christians are a gazing-stock.  The world is looking upon your life.  You have taken upon you the profession of Christianity.  If you live a pure and holy life, God will be honored; others gazing at you will see that Christ lives in you, and many will give to God the glory.  You must be willing to be gazed at by the world.  You must let your light shine.

Your holy life will be a savor of life or a savor of death unto those before whom you live.  So do not think you are living to no purpose.  Some one is looking on every day, and if you will walk uprightly, it will tell for God.  What a privilege you have of living a life that God will use to the salvation of some and to the condemnation of others!  You must be interested in living a pure, clean life, and live your very best each day, so that you will not be ashamed before God to be a gazing-stock for the world.