THE SEED THAT IS IN YOUR HANDS

A few months ago, I returned to my home country for a few days. My brother, who now lives in my old apartment, hosted me during my stay. He placed me right in the same bedroom where my mother used to stay when she spent time with me. It was a very interesting experience, and for a few days I felt like I was in her shoes. I was glad to have offered her a nice, comfortable room.

It may seem trivial, but that experience made me reflect on the principle of sowing and harvesting. Being there those days brought to my mind a story that I read years ago in the well-known devotional The Good Seed. It is about a man who drove his father to a nursing home where he would be staying. When he parked his car in front of the building, his father burst into tears. The son tried to comfort him, to which the old man replied: “Son, I am not crying because you are bringing me here; I am crying because, many years ago, I also brought my father to this same nursing home.”

The principle of sowing and reaping takes place every day. We see it, and, at the same time, we don't see it. The days go by quickly, we work from dawn to dusk, and we don't notice all the seeds that we sow around us.    

…if you give little, you will get little.

A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop,

but if he plants much, he will reap much.

2 Corinthians 9:6-12 TLB

Jesus has made it very clear to us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a seed. In fact, he gave us three different parables related to seeds: that of the Sower, that of the wheat and the tares, and that of the mustard seed.

The comparison of the Kingdom of God to a seed is deeper than it seems. The seed system cannot be manipulated. If it were a human system, we could cheat, like we do on a test. We could bribe someone and get ahead of the crowd. However, in a natural system this does not work. If you don't sow, you don't reap. Plus, you have to plant in the right season. Lastly, it requires patience, since the seed will germinate and grow in its time, not ours.

In his great love for us, God does everything possible for us to understand this principle. He wants us to have a good harvest and that is why he speaks to us with simple examples so that we all understand. Perhaps we unconsciously avoid the idea of thinking that the principle of sowing and harvesting is as real as it seems. Even so, the Word is so clear that it leaves us no room for doubt:

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God.  You will always harvest what you plant.

Galatians 6:7-10 NIV

Does this mean that there is no hope if our sowing has not been good? No. The Lord never leaves us without hope. The Bible is full of stories of second chances. We may have to experience the consequences of some of our actions; However, there is hope.  

The Lord's kindness never fails!I if he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning.

Lamentations 3:22-23 CEV

Today his mercies are new. Today his faithfulness is renewed. Today we have the opportunity of planting new seeds. We cannot live looking back and thinking about what has already been sown. We better take hold of God's mercy and tell Him about our faults and He, who is “faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). He will give us another chance.

The famous 18th century English theologian, John Wesley, summed it up this way:

" Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.."

Time passes quickly. The harvest is approaching. Our eternal home is already in sight. 

And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.  That’s why whenever we can we should always be kind to everyone.

Galatians 6:9-10 KJV

© Astrid Gale

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