The Farmer

"Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life." Galatians 6:7-8 (The Message)

I come from a long line of farmers. My grandfather was a farmer & rancher, his father, my great grandfather was a farmer/rancher. I love to grow things and have tried to install in our boys the love of the feel of the dirt in their hands and the excitement of taking something as small as a little black seed and get a watermelon.

Not all of us are farmers of the land. But we are all planters of the spirit. We all have the ability to plant seeds of encouragement, wisdom and love. We all have the ability to raise someone's self-esteem, make the weight of their life that is on their shoulders, lighter, help the unloved to feel loved.

It doesn't take a talent. It doesn't take a college course or a BA degree. All it takes is a little bit of time of unfocusing on ourselves and focusing on someone else. Of seeing someone or a situation from God's perspective and see the potental. It takes empathy. Compassion.

It seems that we sometimes turn a blind to the empathy/compassion part of our Christian walk. After all, you are so very busy. Your calendar is packed full. And anyway, aren't there county-runned programs that help people? There's the Salvation Army, Manna House, Red Cross. And while these are wonderful agencies, they cannot--and should not--take away our Christian responsibility of planting compassion, empathy and good old fashioned brotherly/sisterly love.

Jesus is our true example. He sowed these exact seeds in every situation He came into. The woman with the bleeding problem. The man on the stretcher, being let down through the roof. The woman at the well. The blind man. The man with leprosy. The robber hanging on the cross next to Him. The list could go on.

I dare you! I lovingly dare you to be a farmer in the field that your Heavenly Father has commissioned you to plant. A quick word to the wise--you are always commissioned to plant, but you may not always see your harvest. So, please don't be discouraged. Remember, on a farm there are many farmhands.