By QuaWanna Bannarbie

Rarely do I pass a marquee and not pay attention. The messages speak to me, revealing something that was possibly beyond the messenger’s intention. Back in January 2018, Magnolia United Methodist Church posted a sign that read “Changing Calendar, Unchanging God.” That message signaled to me to handle any unfinished business that I did not take care of in 2017. As a result, I penned a column that was published that month with the same title as the marquee.

This week, a marquee message strikes again. This time it was outside of Open Door Church located at 816 Kings Fork Road in Suffolk. The sign read “Spiritual Investment Always Yields Growth.” It did not take long before a topic map began formulating in my head along the lines of that message. I thought about it so much after seeing the marquee that other related topics sprang from it.

Of the words on the marquee that stood out the most to me, the word “yield” was prominent. Whenever I see “yield,” I always think of the scripture Genesis 1:28 when God blessed Adam and Eve saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This scripture is often referenced to suggest that God blessed the first man and woman to reproduce and bear children. That is true but that is not all.

To yield means to be fruitful or productive. God created man and woman to spread Himself in the earth. Adam and Eve represented the created image bearers and personalities of God. God gave Adam and Eve a mandate to multiply His Spirit and His character. The fact that God is immutable and yields fruit continually is what makes our pursuit to be like Him so necessary. When our thoughts, ideas, works, beliefs, creations, words and actions identify with the Creator, then we continue to establish good in the earth. The good keeps reproducing as long as we keep the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

According to a quick Google search on farming calendars, the growing season for different plants can run from May through October, depending on whether it is a spring or fall planting. We are still in the season of growth. The planting calendar supports how God’s most complex creation is made in His image. While plants have a set season for growth and animals are mostly seasonal breeders, mankind is a year-round developer. We have been given a divine characteristic to continually yield. God has no limit or end. Just look around you; His creation keeps growing.

Therefore, in the next three weeks, I want to share my thoughts on three personal investments that yield growth: spiritual, relational and educational. God is an investor, and He made us to be producers in His investment. We call that investment life. When He spoke in Genesis 1:28, he was simply saying, “I am looking for a return on my investment. You bear my image. Continue my work.” Our personal growth is important to this investment, because where good development happens, so does good success.

QuaWanna Bannarbie is an adjunct professor of nonprofit leadership and management with Indiana Wesleyan University, National and Global. Her children attend Suffolk Public Schools. Connect with her via Twitter @QNikki_Notes.