Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline says:
" 'He who sows to his own flesh will from flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit reap eternal life' (Gal. 6:8).
A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He puts the seed in the ground where the natural forces take over and up comes the grain. That is the way with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing to the Spirit. The Disciplines are God's way of getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God's means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the Disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we are placed where He can bless us."
May we learn from the example in our own gardening deeper truths about the balance between our part and God's part in our spiritual growth.
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