“What we have principally to do with, in our inquiries into our own state, or the directions we give to others, is the nature of that effect which God has brought to pass in the soul. As to the steps which the Spirit took to bring that effect to pass, we may leave them to him. We are often in Scripture expressly directed to try ourselves by the nature of the fruits; but no where by the Spirit’s method of producing them” (Jonathan Edwards, from The Religious Affections).

Many seeds are planted the conventional way by breaking up ground, being placed into dirt, and waiting for results. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes in my Papaw’s garden a tomato will be left on the ground, and from the seed of that tomato a new plant will begin to grow. One year I left a pumpkin out by our steps. The snow came, the snow left, and in the spring we had a number of pumpkin sprouts. A seed can begin to grow even when not planted in what many consider the “normal” way.

Like the natural world, so the spiritual. It doesn’t matter how the seed was planted, nor even if you know how, but what matters is true growth. You might not know when God began to work in your life or when He saved you. That’s okay, because the only thing that matters is true spiritual growth or true spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). If you are trusting Christ alone for salvation (John 3:16, 14:6; Romans 3:28), have a repenting heart (Luke 18:9-14; 1 John 1:9), and are beginning to show Christian evidences (Galatians 5:22-23), then it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember when you were saved or tell how God worked in your life. Are you trusting Jesus right now for forgiveness? Are you repenting of sin on a normal basis? Are you growing as a Christian? This is what matters.

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