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Oct 30, 2026 06:00am

There’s Still Work To Be Done

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What does it mean to be a gardener?

You plant the seed, water it, watch it grow, provide fertilizer, pull out the weeds, care for the plants or flowers, and when the time is right, you harvest.

And the cycle continues.

There are all kinds of gardeners out there, and they have lots of opinions. They can all agree that certain things are necessary, but when it comes down to the specifics, everyone seems to have an opinion on when it’s best to water, what fertilizer to use, and how to rid their plants of pests.

Some really get into the weeds of things. They want to discuss in-depth the structure of a flower and the science behind every detail of the plant.

But at some point, to be a gardener, you have to get to work.

You can become so distracted by what you know, or think you know, that you miss the main focus—gardening.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

1 Timothy 1:3–7

“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.”

Remember, Timothy was in Ephesus. This was a place with major Greek influence, a culture that valued knowledge, deep thinking, and philosophical debates.

False teaching had made its way into the church. Some were promoting speculative ideas and teachings that distracted believers from the truth of God’s Word.

The problem was clear: they were focusing on themselves rather than Christ.

While they were debating about who knew more about this or that, there were people who still needed to hear the simple truth of the gospel.

There was work to be done, but they had gotten sidetracked.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Knowledge is good. We should know who God is, understand His Word, and learn what it looks like to follow Him.

But sometimes we become so focused on growing in our own knowledge that we begin to think we have to know it all—or at least know more than everyone else.

We think deep theological debates will somehow make us look more Christian.

And before we realize it, we’ve become so focused on the pursuit of knowledge that we’ve lost sight of what that knowledge is supposed to produce.

Love. Faith. Obedience. A life that points others to Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with studying the details. But knowing everything about gardening doesn’t make a garden grow.

At some point, you have to get your hands in the dirt.

And the same is true of discipleship.

There are still people who need to hear the simple truth of the gospel.

There are still hearts that need encouragement, lives that need the hope of Jesus, and people who need someone willing to walk alongside them.

There’s still work to be done.

As disciples of Christ, we should be making disciples.

Planting.

Watering.

Tending.

And trusting God for the harvest.