Our garden is just about fully planted. We bought some plants and sowed some seeds.
Sowing seeds is always somewhat a mystery to me.
I buy the seed packets with the pictures of the vegetables I want to grow, and in most cases the packet seems empty; the seeds are so small. When I tear open the packet I find dry, brown seeds that don’t seem to have any life in them at all. I then carefully place a single seed into each hole I have made in the soil. Once I’ve filled the holes I smooth over the soil, covering the seeds.
I leave the garden with it looking no different that when I went in. There is no visible evidence that I did anything. I know that I sowed the seeds, but no one else can tell.
Only time will prove whether or not I sowed seed.
Our words are as seeds sown in the hearts of others.
And at the end of most days I don’t really notice any difference from the words I have spoken.
But as time goes on a harvest will come.
“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you,… that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” Deuteronomy 6:1-7
This remains God’s promise to His people today;
God realizes the power of sowing seeds!
God desires a great harvest! Generations of much fruit!
Sowing seeds in the home begins with the fear of the Lord.
It is the profound reverence and awe of who God is, of all His attributes, of His sovereignty, and His never-ending love, that convinces us to commit ourselves to wholeheartedly obey Him, no matter what.
Complete obedience makes the soil of the heart good!
Good soil produces good fruit!
“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:17
The fear of the Lord and wholehearted obedience to His word produces a harvest of good fruit that our family will taste and see that God is good!
So, I must ask myself,
“What kind of seeds am I sowing in my home?”
“What kind of fruit is being produced?”
Buying a packet of seeds, putting the seeds into a hole and covering them up seems so easy compared to what God is calling me to in these verses. Yet, there is a simplicity to my analogy that I like.
“Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own.” Mark 4:26-28
Jesus said that a farmer scatters seeds and while he goes about his day he doesn’t understand what is happening to the seeds. They sprout, grow, and produce a harvest on their own.
The simplicity of doing what I’m called to do; to fear God, wholeheartedly obey Him, and talk about Him and repeat His commands throughout my day, and then leave the sprouting, growing, and producing a harvest of the seeds I’ve sown in His hands sounds like a good idea!
Realizing that I’m not responsible for the sprouting of those seeds,
I’m not responsible for the growing of those seeds,
And I’m not responsible for producing a harvest from those seeds,
that sets me free!
When I sow seeds in my garden I don’t go back every day and dig them up to check on them. I don’t worry or cut them open so that they will sprout quicker. I don’t get frustrated and pull on them to get them to grow faster.
But as ridiculous as that may sound I have found myself checking on the seeds I have sown in the hearts of others. I’ve worried about them and tried to convince them to sprout. I’ve become frustrated and angry trying to get them to grow quicker. I have seen the fruit from their lives and have tried to change it by manipulation and control.
Working in our garden has helped me to realize what my part is and what God’s part is.
There is a cycle of life that is found in everything God has created.
There were seeds of truth sown into my heart. No one caused them to sprout, pulled on them to make them grow, nor manipulated and controlled to produce a harvest.
Those seeds of truth sprouted as the Holy Spirit watered them with conviction and opened my eyes to see my need for a Savior.
Those seeds of truth grew as Jesus shone His light into my heart, trading my shame for His righteousness.
Those seeds of truth produce a harvest because God is for me and His love for me keeps me in abiding in His presence.
This is the cycle of good that God intends for my family as well. And so I am called to sow seeds into the hearts of my family.
And I can have full confidence that the same Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son, and God the Father, will sprout, grow, and produce a great harvest from the seeds I sow!