“. . . only God . . . gives the growth.” That’s the phrase that gets my attention in our scriptures for today. From our babyhood, as we grow and develop physically, we get the notion that our growth is our doing. When we are physically grown and take our place in the material world, we tend to continue to rely on our own resources to grow into what our culture considers a success in whatever walk of life we may choose. Somewhere along the way, likely in the second half of life, we may come to grips with the truth that “[we] are God’s field, God’s building,” and it is “only God who gives the growth.” This is the growth that counts, growth in love, growth in our relationship with the Divine, growth in becoming the imago dei we were created to be.

Elsewhere, Paul tells us, “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil.2:13)—“his good pleasure” which is for us to incarnate Divine Love in the world today, to be God’s hands and feet and voice in all the circumstances and situations of our lives. God reaches out to us where we are, as we are, providing just what we need for our growth—sunshine and rain, times of darkness and light, fertilizer and pruning—whatever it takes to enable us to be fruitful here and now.

Fruitful is the term for success in God’s economy, though it may not be recognized as such in our culture. When our “fields” are ready for harvest, we can trust God to use our fruit that we produce for others as needs be, to bless them with the nourishment we have to share from the abundance of God’s grace manifest in our lives.