Cultivating Faithfulness

I read Psalm 37 the other day and it really got me. I’ve always loved that chapter in Psalms. It’s full of nuggets that can inspire and challenge. As I read it I thought mostly of Kris. Some of the situations he deals with on a daily basis can be frustrating and I prayed the promises and principles of that passage over him that morning.

I have read my Bible in King James for years. I recently started using the NASB more because that’s the version I chose to put on my Kindle. I retired my nearly falling apart NIV in my mid 20’s and have not gone back to that version, though I have no particular dislike for it, I prefer the poetic King James for Psalms and have found out the NASB is possibly the most accurate.

All of that to say that as I read Psalm 37 the other morning I was reading it in the NASB and as it is still a bit new to me I was caught up in some of the unexpected wording of phrases I had previously known by heart. It’s good to shake things up now and then.

Particularly Psalm 37:3. In the King James it reads this way: “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”

Still so good. Trust, do good and you’ll receive the blessing. Love it.

In the NASB however, it says: “Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” This translation seems to replace the blessing at the end with more challenges. Instead of dwelling in the land as a benefit it seems to be encouraging us to dwell in the land to benefit others. Stay where you are and while you’re at it…and I LOVE this part…cultivate faithfulness. Sigh…is it just me or are those incredible words? They make my heart beat faster. I’m not kidding.

What does it mean to cultivate faithfulness? I was immediately taken back to my years at home working in my parents garden. One of the many useful tools we used in keeping back the weeds was a cultivator. It had a big wheel and tall handles and in the back was a five pronged tool that when lowered into the dirt and drug along beside the rows of growing veggies would loosen the soil greatly and dig up the rooted weeds as well as give the developing produce room to grow and take in nutrients. I much preferred this to hand weeding and loved the effect it had on the look of the garden.

To cultivate is to do what needs to be done in order to encourage growth. When we cultivate faithfulness we are breaking away the things that would choke our faithfulness, our commitments, our integrity and our good character. How do we do that? What does it look like? Well, I think it looks like a lot of different things. The funny thing is, it’s easier to identify what is NOT cultivating faithfulness. Which is probably a good start. Throughout the days since reading that verse I’ve asked myself time and again, “Is this cultivating faithfulness?” I had to answer “no” quite often.

Of course I think first of my children. They are the seeds planted in my little “kindergarten” and need my hands to be busy about cultivating faithfulness in their lives. Answering the first time and not ignoring my kids when they want to show me what they made or colored. Sitting with them when they eat their lunch instead of running through with a basket of laundry now and then only stopping long enough to check and make sure no one has spilled anything. Making time to read a book with them. Listening, learning, and exploring with them. Allowing them to work with me instead of watch and don’t touch. These are the areas I’m working on. These are the precious times I could so easily choke out with “important” things, “urgent” things. I am realizing you have to get down into the dirt with someone, you have to be willing to press through when the ground is hard and the rocks are abundant, if you want to encourage growth. Cultivating isn’t always clean and it isn’t always easy, but it works.

Every time I waste time, exemplify an undisciplined life, lose my temper needlessly, even when I eat unnecessarily I am growing weeds and encouraging unfaithfulness in them. To cultivate faithfulness I need to go back to that verse: trust, do good and dwell. I need to slow down, be purposeful and show them faithfulness. I need to live it in front of them, and drag that cultivator through my own daily routine in order to loosen the good things and drag out the bad.

These are the precious times I could so easily choke out with important things.

I’m so thankful God shows me His faithfulness as a guide. I cannot go wrong when I am planting myself in His care each day. Allowing that seed that is me, to die and then be revived, refreshed and renewed by His hand. I trust Him to continuously reveal His Word to me, feed me, light my path and protect me from those things that would wreak havoc on my growth. Each and every day I am striving to bear fruit that is useful to Him.

Cultivating faithfulness…I am SO INSPIRED!