Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.In Luke's account of Jesus' life we find the Parable of the Sower (8:1-15) Take a few minutes and read it. Go on, I'll wait for you. Okay, done? Good. So what does Jesus tell the disciples the seed is?
That's right.
In case you didn't hear whoever just said it, the answer is: the word of God.
Does the word ever fail in this story? No. It does not. The soil is what fails. What is the soil? Different types of people. Some never believe because the word is taken from them. Others don't allow the word to take root and fall away. Still more are choked out by "life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." (I had a good bit to say on maturity a few weeks back. Read at your own risk.)
The last type of people are those with "noble and good hearts, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." That one sentence has so much information on it.
Look at the actions: Hear. Retain. Persevere. Produce. (This will be another post in itself!)
In this story I believe Jesus is telling us that as his disciples we are to scatter the word of God. He was doing it then. The disciples did it after he ascended. Now we are doing it. You and me.
Now, the farmer doesn't have anything to do with the harvest. At least not specifically in this story. Usually the workers are the ones who are mentioned as doing the harvesting. The point is that once the seed is scattered, the farmer can't make the seed grow. He can water it. Protect it from animals and other dangers, but a farmer cannot make the seed open, take root, push through the soil and stretch out toward the heavens. It is beyond his control. You and I cannot make the word of God grow in someone else.
We don't need too.
The word is capable of doing that on it's own. That's not to say toss a Bible at someone and say, "Hey, here's a Bible, go be a follower of Jesus." The word will grow in the right soil. We are to spread it around. And here is the best thing about the word being the seed...it can never run out! Yeah, you don't have to go order more. The Bible is it. Jesus' words are it. The only way to fail is if we don't keep taking it in. It's still there, but we might not know enough. (So read more. Study more. Spend more time with God learning who he is, that he loves us.)
So as we continue to let the word grow in us, we are to spread it about to others. There are so many ways to do this. If you attend a "church" regularly, check into their resources on how to do this. Or talk with a leader or pastor. There are many websites that you can go to also. (M28 is one such example...and I had to plug it!)
Maybe it's meeting with a small group. Maybe it's bringing someone with you to a service or gathering. It could be anything. The world, and closer still, your neighborhood is full of people who are the right kind of soil. They are searching, hurting, desperate, and hungry for God. They are out there.
So let us get out there and plant the seed. Let God worry about what is harvested and how much. The harvest won't happen with out the planting. We can't plant the word if we don't go out to the field. A farmer has a house he comes into for rest and food, but he works in the field.
If you're not catching my metaphor, as a follower of Jesus we probably have a "church home" to come to for rest and food, but we can't plant seeds inside the house full of other followers. We have to step out of the house and walk to the field and start working.
Get off your duff. Put on your muck boots. Walk outside into the world. Start planting the seed of the word in the soil of people around you. It's something we all need to do. Like Mr. Stevenson's quote says,
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.Or maybe the old saying, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," is more to your liking...and now the title makes sense.
Until Next Time...
grace, peace + hope
-Jesse
No comments:
Post a Comment