God, the true Master Gardener, eclipses the Farmers’ Almanac with many agricultural references in the Bible. He establishes the seedtime and harvest principal early on. Genesis 8:22 reads: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…will never cease.” He discusses seeds in relation to agriculture as well as calling His own the “seed of Abraham” in Psalm 105. Then we fast-forward, seeing Jesus teach in parables where He spiritualizes seed as the Word of God.
The spiritual process of seed sowing, like the physical, involves the cycle of soil (of our heart) preparation, planting, fertilizing, watering, pruning and harvest. Seed sowing has broad implications. Our own “American as apple pie” apples were brought to North America in seed form in the late 16th century by the Jesuits. By 1644, ninety percent of farms had apple trees.
As we pray for a hunger and understanding of God’s word and nurture the planting of that precious seed into our lives, we can never know the far-reaching effects that harvest may yield. Our job is to sow these seeds of faith we have received. Those seeds will benefit us and, hopefully, others. We shouldn’t be surprised that often, the harvest takes time. There are myriad ways the seed can be damaged, or its purposes aborted. We are all somewhere in the middle of the process. He can graft, move the seed to a more hospitable location, or even do a little pruning along the way. If we are faithful to sow and trust Him, God is faithful to bring us to the day we can celebrate the harvest with thanksgiving.
~Nan Robertson
Christ Fellowship