the parable of the sower
"...as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other
seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and
immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away." Mark 4:5-6
When I was blessed with my new house, it came with almost a quarter acre of yard...God's little acre, I called it. I had spent the past 17 years in a townhouse with a 16 x 10 foot backyard, so this, for me, was paradise! Since we moved in in late April, I had some quick catch up work to do to ready it for the garden that I had in mind. Luckily, we had a very cool spring thus far, so it wasn't as if I had missed the planting season. What I didn't take into account, however, was what the soil had been like up until the time that I took over. Although it was the rich black soil of the prairie that I was now living in, it had been fertilized by the landlord with weed killer. I did not know this initially as I turned the earth over, spading and hoeing it until I could work in some seed. Then I waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Those seeds were sure taking their time!
Meanwhile, I watched as other gardens were spewing out ripe tomatoes, hearty sized peppers and corn over six feet tall. My tomatoes did grow...sort of....I got enough off of six plants to make a salad and two jars of spaghetti sauce. My peppers were the size of small golf balls, my cucumbers were no bigger. Hmmmmmm.....
However, it amazed me that the few sunflower seeds that I had planted did grow....and I was delighted by the goldfinches that came to the now ripened flowers daily for the seeds that they feasted on. I wondered with fascination about that one, of how one little seed produced a flower with so many seeds....it was a miracle...to this city girl hick anyway!!
Our lives are just like this. Think about the environment that you are in. Do you have a good job--or merely plod on day after day to get by? Do you live in a nice neighborhood with friendly neighbors--or a run down tenement house? Are you on good terms with your family....and when you see a stranger, do you make them feel welcome? Our lives are like that yard that I took over. It had been "poisoned" to keep out the weeds, but it also hindered the crops that I had planted. I had planted my seeds on soil that just did not measure up to what I had expected of it. I had to purge out the poison by adding in the good things that would help it to grow. I have since been adding compost, turning that soil over, mixing in the good with the bad until, by next spring, I will have the bad diluted with more than enough good to produce a bountiful harvest. Me and God...we've got this! It's the same with you, if you are in an environment that stifles your growth, growth may just not happen much, if at all.
Again, what about you? In your life, do you also rely on God to weed out the bad, to mix into your life so much good that the bad won't stand a chance of taking over and strangling it? You may say, "I don't hang out with "bad people!" but look around you. What do you do in your spare time? Do you surf porn on the internet? Do you drink way more than you should? Both of these things affect not only you, but others who know you personally. It disrupts their lives as well, much like the weeds that take over a lawn or a garden, eventually choking out the good. Soon, instead of a bountiful harvest, you will be surrounded by trouble, pain and sorrow. Is this how your life is? Like weeds that creep into a garden, you may not see it--or even wish to deal with it. Eventually though, you will have to address it...and what a chore you will have by then! Why not examine your life while troubles are small, see where you need to prune, to pull, to cut or trim...this is how a garden grows successfully!
Today, be a gardener who plants seeds--like a sunflower seed. Be that ONE person who plants a seed of hope--of happiness. Cull out the weeds and things that stifle your growth. In time, that ONE seed will produce much good fruit...many who will benefit from just one act of selfless love...of being one with God. Be the one who inspires. Today be a seed of hope.
May God bless you! Amen!
When I was blessed with my new house, it came with almost a quarter acre of yard...God's little acre, I called it. I had spent the past 17 years in a townhouse with a 16 x 10 foot backyard, so this, for me, was paradise! Since we moved in in late April, I had some quick catch up work to do to ready it for the garden that I had in mind. Luckily, we had a very cool spring thus far, so it wasn't as if I had missed the planting season. What I didn't take into account, however, was what the soil had been like up until the time that I took over. Although it was the rich black soil of the prairie that I was now living in, it had been fertilized by the landlord with weed killer. I did not know this initially as I turned the earth over, spading and hoeing it until I could work in some seed. Then I waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Those seeds were sure taking their time!
Meanwhile, I watched as other gardens were spewing out ripe tomatoes, hearty sized peppers and corn over six feet tall. My tomatoes did grow...sort of....I got enough off of six plants to make a salad and two jars of spaghetti sauce. My peppers were the size of small golf balls, my cucumbers were no bigger. Hmmmmmm.....
However, it amazed me that the few sunflower seeds that I had planted did grow....and I was delighted by the goldfinches that came to the now ripened flowers daily for the seeds that they feasted on. I wondered with fascination about that one, of how one little seed produced a flower with so many seeds....it was a miracle...to this city girl hick anyway!!
Our lives are just like this. Think about the environment that you are in. Do you have a good job--or merely plod on day after day to get by? Do you live in a nice neighborhood with friendly neighbors--or a run down tenement house? Are you on good terms with your family....and when you see a stranger, do you make them feel welcome? Our lives are like that yard that I took over. It had been "poisoned" to keep out the weeds, but it also hindered the crops that I had planted. I had planted my seeds on soil that just did not measure up to what I had expected of it. I had to purge out the poison by adding in the good things that would help it to grow. I have since been adding compost, turning that soil over, mixing in the good with the bad until, by next spring, I will have the bad diluted with more than enough good to produce a bountiful harvest. Me and God...we've got this! It's the same with you, if you are in an environment that stifles your growth, growth may just not happen much, if at all.
Again, what about you? In your life, do you also rely on God to weed out the bad, to mix into your life so much good that the bad won't stand a chance of taking over and strangling it? You may say, "I don't hang out with "bad people!" but look around you. What do you do in your spare time? Do you surf porn on the internet? Do you drink way more than you should? Both of these things affect not only you, but others who know you personally. It disrupts their lives as well, much like the weeds that take over a lawn or a garden, eventually choking out the good. Soon, instead of a bountiful harvest, you will be surrounded by trouble, pain and sorrow. Is this how your life is? Like weeds that creep into a garden, you may not see it--or even wish to deal with it. Eventually though, you will have to address it...and what a chore you will have by then! Why not examine your life while troubles are small, see where you need to prune, to pull, to cut or trim...this is how a garden grows successfully!
Today, be a gardener who plants seeds--like a sunflower seed. Be that ONE person who plants a seed of hope--of happiness. Cull out the weeds and things that stifle your growth. In time, that ONE seed will produce much good fruit...many who will benefit from just one act of selfless love...of being one with God. Be the one who inspires. Today be a seed of hope.
May God bless you! Amen!
Beautiful...that, like Jesus in His day, you use words and phrases that we can all relate to!!! You are a wonderful example to so many! Now it is MY turn....have a great day!
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