I just completed a family life revival at First Baptist, Georgetown. It was a refreshing and encouraging week for my wife and me. We hope it was helpful to the people there.
Rudy GrayWhile in the area, we purchased a plaque with a statement by Robert Louis Stevenson, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”
Good seeds planted in good soil have an uncanny ability of coming up. The harvest always comes later. Any harvest takes time. We plant now, wait for the growing season and then harvest the crops. But sometimes we harvest what was planted earlier by other planters.
We seem to get the most off track and out of focus when we expect instant results from our planting work in the kingdom of God. Patience and longsuffering are related traits that can too often be in short supply in our instant-gratification culture. That plaque was a good reminder that waiting is an important part of the work of Christ. We cannot force the harvest, but we can be workers in God’s harvest.
Anne and I ate late one night at the Waffle House. We started to sit on stools at the counter, but a nice waiter cleaned a table for us. He said he knew that “older people” often had trouble with sitting on higher seats.
I said, “What do you mean older?” I then shared with him about another saying I had read on a plaque earlier in the day, “I’m not young enough to know everything!”
As we all were laughing, a waitress came over and tried to “comfort” us by adding, “You know even with us younger people, it’s hard to keep up with all the changes and new stuff.” We gave up and ate our meal.
As I thought about the shopping trip, the service at the church, the meal at the restaurant, and several other interactions with people, it hit me. All of these experiences were opportunities to plant the seeds of God’s truth. As Christians, our calling is to plant the seed. God is in charge of the harvest. In fact, we are called to plant and be workers in His harvest. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
The truth is we are called to plant His seed in His world and be reapers in His harvest.
Planting time and harvest time are not done at the same, but both are done in His time! Planting and harvesting are essential. In the work of God, the key to both is the motive to obey Him and honor His name.