I don’t garden anymore but I do enjoy checking out the seed catalogs that bombard my mailbox this time of year. Gardening was a joy for many years, full of the excitement of seeing a seed raise its tiny head through the earth and grow into an edible goody.
ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES by Sally Bair
A time to plant
It’s the time of year for northern gardeners to start their vegetable seeds in small containers and line their windowsills. Once the snow melts and the soil warms, the seedlings can be transplanted outside to begin another year’s harvest. When I once helped a neighbor with his vegetable garden, I enjoyed shopping for new seeds to add to last year’s supply. I even planted seeds several years old, which surprisingly came up.
Seeds are interesting. Old or new, they contain life and strength. Their resulting plants are powerful enough to push upward through the tiniest cracks in rocks. Some seeds take longer to produce fruit than others. Certain ones grow abundantly, producing a large harvest.
All these facts point to spiritual lessons. Jesus explained in a parable that “The seed is the Word of God.” (Luke 8:11) Like a seed planted in soil, it can be planted in our hearts to bear the fruit of God’s Spirit: “… love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
His Word is “alive and powerful,” (Hebrews 4:12) but it may take time and perseverance to plant the seeds of God’s love. One person may be open to accepting God’s Word at first hearing, while someone harboring the hard shell of bitterness or unbelief may not be open to it until much later.
Those who plant the spiritual seeds of God’s love need be concerned only with the planting. Others may “water” those seeds through mentoring or teaching.
The best way for us to plant God’s Word in our own hearts and the hearts of others is by living it. And when our God-inspired actions are matched with His words of life, the seeds take root and begin to grow in the lives of those who hear. Salvation and victory over sin come through the Word of God.
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14)
As followers of Christ, we have the privilege of planting His Word for His kingdom. I knew a woman who never missed an opportunity to share God’s Word with others. No matter whom she met, she ended her conversation with “Jesus loves you.”
These three simple words, wrapped around a person’s godly actions and God’s truth, can take root in the hearts of broken or helpless people and transform their lives.
Lord, thank You for Your life-giving, fruit-producing Word. Help us to use it consistently as we plant it into the soil of hearts that need it as much as we do. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Comments