Just because it is winter, it is not necessary for me to put my green thumb away until spring.

I keep something growing in my garden practically all year.

When I planted my fall and winter garden, I decided to put in a few radishes. I bought a dollar’s worth of seeds, which amounted to about two teaspoons.

It did not look like many seeds until they came up and started to grow—now I have what appears to be a five year’s supply of the little turnips ready to be harvested right now!

There is no way I can use them all before they ruin and after asking a few friends if they want some, I have found that radishes are not a crop that most people are interested in.

Those few seeds remind me of a statement made years ago in an advertisement for a popular product of that era: A little dab will do ya!

As we have just come through another glorious season of celebrating the birth of Christ, it should be fresh on our hearts and minds of His coming to earth in very humble surroundings because of God’s great love for us.

Through the sacrificial life, death and resurrection of that one person, Jesus Christ, the Church was born and has grown to include people from all nations of the earth.

Christ stated in John 12:24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (NIV).

Christ was born to die and rise again so that many could believe upon Him and be brought into God’s Kingdom.

Seeds are very small in comparison to what they are capable of producing. Those few radish seeds that I planted would easily fit in the palm of my hand, but it would be quite a chore to try to carry at one time all that they produced. The increase was abundant.

When the seed of faith in Christ is planted in our hearts, it is capable of increasing tremendously as we act upon that faith and allow Him to use us.

As Christ addressed the topic of faith with His followers He told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20b).

As we exit 2009 and enter into 2010, it is an excellent time to remember that One—Jesus Christ—came and gave His life so that many can come by faith and receive everlasting life. Those who come to Him and follow Him can experience increasing faith as they submit to Him and trust Him.

Only God knows what lies ahead in 2010.

It can be the greatest year we have ever known in our walk with Him if we will allow Him to build our faith in Him and use us in greater ways than we have ever been used before.

Will you make it your sincere prayer that God will give you abundant increase in spiritual growth and effectiveness in the new year?