Continuous Crop

Sometimes you find good advice in odd places.
Consider the wise counsel printed on a packet of radish seeds: "To enjoy a continuous crop, continue to sow additional seeds every two weeks during the entire growing season."
In other words, don’t get weary in well-doing! After you’ve sown some radish seeds, sow some more. Don’t give up. Keep sowing until the full growing season ends. That’s the best way to enjoy a continuous crop of radishes.
It’s also the best way to enjoy a full harvest in our lives! Consider Paul’s words to people who are growing weary of sowing:
So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith (Galatians 6:9-10 TEV).  

Dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good (II Thessalonians 3:13 NLT).
We who are on the far side of seventy seem especially tempted to slacken in seed-sowing before our personal “growing season” ends. 
I wonder why? Maybe it’s because the sowing process demands things that the aging process tends to steal from us.
Sowing requires long endurance in ordinary tasks. Aging makes us want to take naps instead. Sowing requires focused trust in future harvest. Aging wants to enjoy harvest now.
Sowing requires a continuous supply of seeds; aging reduces our supply of resources. Sowing insists, “Keep at it!” Aging laments, “No more; I’m done!”
So what can we do?
It heartens me to remember that God is in charge of both sides of the sowing/reaping process. The Lord provides the harvest, yes. But the Lord also supplies the seeds:

 And God, who supplies seed for the sower…, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest (II Cor. 9:10 TEV).
The seeds we sow in old age may differ in size and scope from those sown in youth and mid-life. But those seeds are given to us by the Lord—to sow faithfully, here and now.
Small things, sown day after day, have huge harvest potential. Consider the growth possibilities in:   

  • our everyday skills (Acts 9:36-39)
  • our two cents (Luke 21:1-3)
  • our encouraging words (Ephesians 4:29)
  • our cheerful spirit (Proverbs 17:22)
  • our intercession (Colossians 4:12-13)
  • our shared supplies (John 6:9-11)
  • our presence (II Corinthians 7:5-6)
  • our endurance in trial (Hebrews 12:11)
  • our artistic abilities (I Samuel 16:23)
  • our uncomplaining attitude (Philippians 2:14-15)
Our growing season hasn’t ended yet. Let’s keep sowing for a continuous crop!

               ©MarionSpeicherBrown

                     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tootsie Roll™ Troubles

Image
I was in kindergarten when envy first grabbed me. Every day, my best friend and I opened lunch boxes with food prepared by our mothers. We each received a sandwich, veggie sticks and fruit. All was well until Ginny’s mother began adding a Tootsie Roll™ candy to her lunch. Day after day she received a delicious chewy treat.  Soon I grew discontent with my own lunch. My mother did not believe in giving me candy at lunchtime. I lost my happy spirit. Generosity would have said: “Ginny gets candy every day, and I’m glad for her.” Instead I grumbled to myself, “Ginny has something I don’t have, and I need it.” Lunchtime was spoiled for me. Envy won. We smile at the foolishness, but we understand the feeling. The tendency to compare our lot with others never seems to disappear. We look in others’ “lunch boxes” and find our own lives lacking. Even at advanced age, it’s easy to wish we had what others have—energy to serve, freedom from chronic pain, family close by, ample fu...
Read more

Small Calls

Image
Moses’ call gets all the attention. Everyone knows about the burning bush and God’s momentous call for Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt. We know the Lord has carefully prepared Moses—raised in Pharaoh’s court and now familiar with wilderness topography—for this huge task of leadership. His brother Aaron’s call gets much less attention. He too receives a message from God. In fact, Aaron’s calling comes before the burning bush episode. Aaron’s call is small—just a quiet word from the Lord, “ Go out into the wild erness to meet Moses .” (Exodus 4:27 NLT).   He starts obediently on his way, little knowing that his life will change completely. I love to watch how the Lord intertwines these two calls. At the burning bush, Moses tries desperately to wiggle out of the task assigned to him: “ O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now…I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled…Lord, please! Send anyone else .” (Exodus 4:10 and...
Read more

Good to the Last

Image
As I write, I'm sipping coffee advertised as "good to the last drop." In other words, the whole cup promises to be flavorful and pleasing, with no bitterness at the end. It's a good slogan for coffee. It's also a good goal for life! I'd like to be good to the last too--striving to please God throughout my life, with no bitter dregs at the end. That's why I pay attention to the cautionary story of King Asa in II Chronicles, chapters 14 through 16. Asa starts his reign well, does many good things, but somehow gets derailed in old age. Consider some of Asa's accomplishments as king of Judah. He removes pagan shrines, demolishes idols, strengthens national defenses, and renews the nation's covenant with the Lord. When threatened by a huge foreign army, he runs to the Lord first: "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone." (II Chron. 14:11 NLT) The Lord g...
Read more