Spring is here! While it may be snowing in some areas of the country, it’s rainy and warm in the South. When I was growing up, my Dad would usually have his fields plowed and ready for planting around this time of year. I believe as Christians we could learn much from the farmer. Time is passing by, and it is time to plant the seeds that please and honor Christ.
Before seeds can be planted, the soil has to be turned over by plowing it up. Plowing is a process that opens the earth so that it will be ready for the seed. We must live the Word for others to see Christ in us. Our love and concerns are like the gentle rain that softens the soil. Until people know that we are genuine and feel our love, they will not listen. It is the word heard and lived out that touches their hearts. Faith must come by hearing the word. We must gain their hearing by how we act around them and toward them. If we do this according to God’s word, we’ll be doing our part to get the soil ready to plant.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The next process in producing a crop is to sow the seeds. Sometimes, my Dad would walk along behind the plow and drop the seeds, at other times he would use an attachment for the tractor, called a planter. The seeds would be dropped, and then he would plow another row to cover them up. What always amazed me as a child was the number of seeds he would plant. He might drop four or five seeds of corn in one little area, but only one seed would develop into a plant that would survive to maturity. However, that one plant would produce several ears of corn, with around 800 kernels per ear. Now that is production! We never know when we plant a seed of faith what may happen to it. It may be like the seed in Matthew 13:23 that grew and flourished, but it may be like some of the others mentioned earlier in the chapter. In verse 19 the seed was sown, but the wicked one caught it before it had time to take root. The devil is clever and will do what he can to entice those we speak with to reject the seed. In verse 20, the seed was sown on stony ground. We all know rocks cannot nourish a seed. Sometimes the seed falls among thorns, and the thorns choke it out. Only one soil received the seed and produced a plant that grew to maturity. This seed not only grew to maturity but flourished and brought forth much fruit.
Matthew 13:23 “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Our job is to keep on sowing. Once we sow the seed, we need to try to cover it in good soil. The best soil is full of prayer, love, and concern. Once that is done, make opportunities to go back and water the seed. We are to continue to nourish the seed, but only God can give the increase. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get discouraged when the seeds don’t produce. The farmer teaches us to keep on planting and some will grow.
I Corinthians 3:6-7 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
It takes a lot of labor for the farmer to receive a bountiful crop. He understands that God is in total control, and for most of the growing season, he will be busy waiting to harvest the crop. He does all he knows to do. He plants, fertilizes, waters, loosens up the soil, and then waits on God. A good farmer makes use of the waiting time by getting ready for the next growing season. There is always another field to be plowed for other crops. We must do the same if we are to be obedient to the call of Christ. We are His farmers and unless we plant and sow there will be no production. The souls of men, women, boys, and girls are dependent on our being faithful to distribute the seeds. Think where America would be without our farmers. Many would go hungry and starve to death. I do not want to stand before God as a lazy, selfish, ignorant farmer, knowing that many starved and went to Hell because I was disobedient. What about you, what is your desire in the sowing of seeds?
