What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?
Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
For the month of September, I have been writing about the theme of “harvest.”
Yesterday I attended Ladies Bible Study at our Church.
We studied 1 Corinthians 3. I had read the chapter many times before but never really delved as deeply into it. Naturally, I had heard sermons on this chapter in the past. However, I am intrigued by the description of believers being “God’s Field” and “God’s Building.”
So for today, won’t you join me in discovering what this passage means in further detail?
This scripture teaches that we are God’s fellow workers. God invites us to work with Him and for Him. How exciting is this? The best work we will ever lay our hand to is for God. We partner with Him, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him. And the fields are ripe for harvest!
Examining the example of Paul, we see he partners with God to work on “God’s people.” It is not always non-believers that need to be grown.
As believers, we are “God’s Field,” and “God’s building,” and the Word of Life has to affect us for bringing change and conviction to repentance. In 1 Corinthians 3, we know Paul is the Pastor or evangelist and the new believers are the field or building he is working on with God.
It is a beautiful picture of a farmer planting and watering his seeds, his fields, and God making it grow.
In this scripture, Apollos and Paul work together as labourers, doing God’s work, knowing it is only God who can anoint and bless the outcome. The two men are God’s servants and work by God’s grace alone. They do not boast about what they do; they boast in the LORD.
The foundation for their building is Christ alone.
God will test their work, and our work, not to see how much work was done, but what sort of work it was. Was it really done for God and with God?
So if we are ministers of the gospel, or doing mission work as an ordinary citizen, we do it for God and with God if we want it to last.
God will make the seeds grow.
Sometimes we will never see the outcome.
Seeds take time to grow into fields.
We take time to grow as Christians.
We are fields.
God waters us through His Word, and His servants, and God makes us grow for Him.
God feeds us with His Word through faithful pastors like Paul, and through our own study of Scripture.
As the season of autumn and harvest is upon us, won’t you take the time with me to thank God for growing us, His field?
And let us think of that picture as we cast our eyes upon the golden harvest.
P.S… I hope I did justice to this scripture. You are welcome to add your own thoughts and conclusions. Or better yet, to do your own further study on the subject, perhaps listen to a sermon on it or read a book written about it, making sure its foundation is based on Christ.