Scatter the Seeds
Do you have a green thumb? My grandmother, who I nicknamed “Nonnie” did, and it seems like everything Nonnie planted bloomed into a beautiful, luscious plant or tree. She had peach trees, pecan trees and grapevines in her backyard and at harvest time, Nonnie would take the fruit of her labor and used it to make wonderful homemade preserves or cobbler. As I reflect back, I realize now why I was a pudgy child. There was too much fresh food to eat!
I didn’t inherit my grandmother’s green thumb, but I still love flowers, and plant begonias and pansies every year. Sometimes they make it. Sometimes they don’t, but I always try to be a gardener every year and hope for the best.
In a spiritual context, it’s wonderful we are not the gardener. Our job is only to plant the seeds and let God do the watering and feeding. We don’t know if the seeds we plant will germinate, but it’s not for us to judge. We still need to plant them. We need to be open about our faith and let people know why we have eternal hope, how we overcame the past droughts in our life and tell them about the Master Gardener who grew something beautiful out of the rocky soil we found ourselves in at times.
The seeds we plant with people won’t always bloom. In Matthew 13:3-8, Jesus explains, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Regardless of the results, the farmer still scattered the seed.
If we live long enough, many times God blesses us with a glimpse of some of the beautiful plants that began with a tiny seed. This past week, I was on a ministry trip to San Antonio and a woman who worked with me in public relations fifteen years ago, wants to participate in a ministry outreach we are working on for San Antonio. When someone asked her why she was going to be involved in the new ministry she said, “It’s all because of the seeds Lisa planted.” Her words were the fuel I needed to keep at it and to continue scattering seeds.
As seed scatterers, it’s important to have a positive attitude. It’s not for us to pre-judge where the fertile ground is. We need to be open, and ask our Father, “Who needs to receive the seeds of eternal hope?” They may not seem open to it now, but God does the cultivating.
Maybe you don’t have a green thumb like me, but isn’t it wonderful to know we don’t have to be an garden expert to make a difference for the Heavenly Kingdom? We just have to be willing to scatter the seeds. (LBW)