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This is the time of the year where you have planted a garden and depending on when you started you are beginning to see some sprouts start to poke their head through the earth that you plowed and tilled and spent all that time preparing.
Finally, some results for all that hard work that you put in! But, what are you growing? That’s what has been on my mind for the past week. What are you growing? as I began to plant a garden this year. What are you growing? as I began to think about my life, my wife, my kids, my church family and those around me. So, I ask you the same question….What are you growing?
As I began to sit down and plan out my garden, the first thing that crossed my mind is how big of a harvest do I want? How many people do I plan to feed with this harvest? What kind of fruits do I want to see from my labor? How much time do I have to do to get it done? How hard do I want to work? These are some pretty important questions that we need to think about before we start to work on that garden.
God began to school me on the very same thing in my Christian walk. What are you growing? How big of a harvest do I want? How many fruits do I want to see from my labor? All are easy questions, right? We all want a big giant garden with lots of fruits and vegetables and that all sounds great, but how hard do I want to work? How many people do you want feed? How much time do you have for me? These are the questions God began to ask me.
We have all heard the parable from Mark 4 chapter 4 about the sower of the seed and how Jesus explains the process to us in the most simple form possible, a farmer. He explains it just like planting a garden and some of the seeds fell on stony ground, some fell among thorns, and some fell upon the good ground. He goes on to explain if we can’t understand this parable we wont be able to understand the rest of the story. But, one thing is for certain, if we don’t plant any seeds there will be NO harvest. In our Christian life if we don’t plant seeds, we will never see a harvest. There are times when you plow, other times, you till, you plant, you water but the increase belongs to God. We just have to make sure we are planting seeds everywhere we go.
Next step along the way is to make sure you are planting the right seeds. If you plant tomatoes, corn and squash, I can guarantee that you will not end up with watermelon, lettuce and beans. We will harvest what we plant. As the old saying goes, you will reap what you sow. There are times in our life when we don’t plant the right seeds. We are all guilty of planting seeds of doubt, seeds of anger, gossip, or lack of patience, and maybe even a few seeds of pride and discord among our family or church family. We must be very careful, cause the seeds we plant now will be what we reap a few months down the road. Our goal as Christians is to plant seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self- control, gentleness, meekness, long suffering and temperance. These are some of the fruits of the spirit that you must possess if you belong to Christ.
Along with everything that I have mentioned there is also some maintenance along the way. Not only do you have weeds that you have to keep under control, so they don’t overgrow your plants and choke them out, you must also keep the pests away. You have some “seed snatchers” that will try to swoop down and snatch the seed before it even has a chance to grow into something beautiful in your life. Some of us have some “seed snatchers” in our life. We have some apps on our phone that are “seed snatchers” they steal the seeds that we are trying to plant with our family and exhaust all of our precious time. There are some hobbies in your life that are “seed snatchers.” They are used to rob the time that we could spend at church or with God. Some of us have people in our life that are “seed snatchers.” They snatch the seeds that God give us as soon as they hit the ground.
But most importantly I want to leave you with this. There are many seeds (all shapes and sizes) and you may feel that you are the lowest and smallest of them all. God speaks of you as well, He uses the parable of the mustard seed and how it is the smallest seed of all the seeds. However, if you keep that tough ground of your heart plowed up, tilled down to fine earth where God can use you and grow you, and let God water that seed with his word, then you will grow like the mustard seed, with great branches and be a shelter for the fowls of the earth. The fowls of the earth were snatching the seed that fell on that tough ground and there was no growth. But if you grow the way God intended you to, then you will be a shelter for those people God has placed in your life. They need you and they need a shelter from the cares of this world. So, what are you growing? Who are you growing for? There is a harvest time coming for all of us. We will only harvest what we have sown, so keep sowing those seeds.
Have a great week and God bless!
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, David Odom.)