Well, it’s that time of the year… Spring planting season! Now as tempting as it might be to plant my garden early, because the weather has been just absolutely beautiful; I have lived in Ohio too long to be fooled into thinking cold weather is gone for the season. “I’m too smart for you Ohio… you are not going to hoodwink me!” I’ll hold off on the garden just a bit, but this week I did go ahead and over-seed my lawn. After 3-4 years of building projects at the McKnight Family Homestead, the lawn has taken a beating — so it’s time to try to do a little lawn maintenance.
You know, it takes quite a bit of effort to spread a couple of hundred pounds of grass seed… 4,706 steps to be exact according to my iPhone… and my yard is just one big hill. It was in the mid 80’s and I was sweating and huffing a bit before I finished. I had to keep a constant eye on the spreader because I had to dodge driveways and sidewalks, landscaping planters full of plants and flowers and even the blackberry bushes on the edge of our property — which snagged me twice as I passed by, I might add.
Now, I just have to wait to see if that new seed will take root and thicken my yard; which currently is about as wispy as the hair on my head. Yeah… not the greatest look. My hope is the beginning of a rejuvenated lawn. I hope the seed is good and that it was scattered appropriately. I hope that it will take root and produce. I hope the results will be worth the effort. I hope for a lush, green lawn.
Jesus once told a parable about a farmer who went out to sow his field. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the pathway, some of it among rocks, part of the seed landed amongst thorns, while other seed did fall in good soil.
Of course, in Jesus’ parable only the seed that fell in the good soil produced a crop, the seed on the path, in the rocks and among the thorns wasn’t able to grow and produce — so the seed was wasted. Jesus’ point to the parable was about the importance of understanding and applying God’s word (particularly about who he was) to a person’s life.
Jesus said, “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23
Your heart needs to be “good soil” for the gospel of Jesus to take root and produce the crop that he desires for your life. You see, the reality is… when the gospel takes root in your life… it produces a bountiful crop because it brings great… life… change.
The Word brings life… it brings peace… it brings promise… it brings eternal life. Just how can you measure the crop production of someone who has been born again? Someone transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of God… someone who is filled with the presence of Christ. When the seed of the gospel blossoms in our life we become the people we were created to be… lush and flourishing in Christ!
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