Dear family,
Whether we are parents, teachers, or pastors, we love it when the folks we are trying to mentor and lead and teach 'get it.' When the light bulb goes off and when he or she has that epiphany moment, we dance just like David danced, only with our clothes on.
During my M.Div at Bethany Theological Seminary, i had a professor who would shout "Ding, Ding, Ding," if any of his students got the answer right. He would become as giddy as a parent gets watching his/her child excel. Watching Dr. Bach encourage and feeling his encouragement, i realized the power of teaching and the value of planting good seeds.
In our core being, i think most of us are farmers. We love the idea of planting a seed, a small minute organism that houses the DNA for what could be a huge apple tree, and we hold to the hope that somehow, in some small way, we can aid in that journey. It is natural. It is healthy. And it is godly to be this way.
But whose job is it to care for the soil? If our job is to sow seeds, and it is, who is responsible for the soil? Are we to worry about the soil of the people we disciple? To a small degree yes, but isn't it their responsibility to prepare their soul for receiving and the care for the seed? Isn't it their job to make sure they are ready to hear, truly hear, the word/seed? Yes it is.
Just as it is our job to always be attentive to who might be sowing seeds in our soul, and we must be ready to care for the soil so we can produce fruit that lasts. God gives us the soil, but we have to till up the soil so it is nutrient rich. We have to weed the stuff that longs to snuff out the life given to us. And we must add whatever healthy pieces to the soil so that we can be ready for a healthy, vibrant, amazing plant to produce fruit through us.
The formula looks like this: we prepare the soil. Someone else plants the seed. And finally, when all is right and good and ready, God does what God does so well. God ensures the seed becomes all that it was supposed to be. When all of this works together we will get a healthy tree, from a small seed, and we will witness the power of God's Kingdom, through us.
Farmers know that they have to prepare the soil, and they know that they have to sow good seeds, and they know that they must nurture the new seed if they want a bountiful crop. And when all of this happens, with God's grace upon them, they reap an amazing harvest. Sure they expect to lose some of the seeds to birds, there are always going to be birds. And some seeds will be uprooted by rocks moving and what not. Rocks will always exist. And there are some seeds that will spring up, but through the hot July sun, and lack of water, they will wilt and die. But the farmer knows the heart of his/her harvest remains, because he or she did all they could for the majority of the seeds.
And now it is our turn to do all we can to honor the seeds given to us, but also so we can get our seeds ready to sow in the soil God brings us. We are all farmers anyway, in our heart of hearts, so why not produce a crop with eternal rewards? Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
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