Planting Seeds
August 28, 2009 by Dawn
Filed under Bible Based Living
Do you remember warm summers eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds? What about hollowing out your pumpkins and removing the seeds from them? Or maybe even cutting the seeds out of an apple or orange so our kids can eat them safely?
Seeds are very prevalent in our lives. We come into contact with them from a very early age. Usually our parents tell us something crazy like, “Don’t swallow that seed or you will grow a watermelon (or some other named fruit) in your stomach!”
Another familiar memory for many of us may be our planting experience with seeds. Believing that if we throw that one precious seed secured from our piece of fruit, plant it and water it; then a wonderful, glorious, fruit bearing plant will emerge. Often the seeds are quickly forgotten after the first few days so no quick producing evidence and we lose interest.
Or possibly, we learned about seeds correctly. We learned to garden and understood the process of planting, and the lessons in patience; as we waited for our seeds to first germinate, then grow, and eventually bear fruit. We also learned that our seeds would not bear fruit unless we cared for the ground, removed the weeds, watered and fed the crop, picked the ripe fruit, and pruned the unnecessary growth.
Perhaps it is only natural that Jesus would refer to the seed of faith when answering the disciple’s question in the Gospels.
At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
~ Matthew 17:14-20, NLT
Many times we hear this Scripture in reference to our amount of faith suggesting that if we had the smallest amount anything would be possible. Consider however that Jesus was also referring to the process of the seed and its ability to bear fruit.
When planting – you must plant multiple seeds to produce an outcome. Remember planting flowers, vegetables, or anything in your garden? How often did you precisely place one single seed in the whole and then move onto the next spot? Not often at all if you intended for anything to grow. We learn early on that we must plant several seeds to expect an outcome. Not all seeds take to the ground, not all seeds are living inside and able to continue their growth. When planting your seed, remember you must plant more than one seed in more than one location. Pray more than once. Confess the Word from your mouth more than once. Stand on that Scripture more than once.
Seeds have to be covered up and not bothered for awhile to grow. After you plant seeds in your garden, you cover them with soil, then water them… then you leave them alone for a few days. You may add food of some sort, additional water, or sunlight, but you do not remove the soil and look at the seed again. It needs to stay put, so it can take root. Continue to believe and water your belief, but allow it to take root in you. Don’t dig what you are standing on up again and reconsider the outcome or what God has intended; stand on what He has shown you (or maybe not shown you), and press in, praying, worshipping, seeking Him and allow your seed to take root.
As seeds grow, so do some other unwanted items. Crops of any nature produce weeds. Weeds grow without any care, any true root foundation, and any real desire to see them sprout up in our lives. To kill a weed, you must destroy it from the root, or it will continue to grow and multiply… potentially smothering the fruit you are trying to produce. As you stand on your faith, things will get in the way. Stand firm on God’s Word and remove the disbelievers, the naysayers, and even the poor habits that prevent you from moving forward in your faith. Do what you promised to do, and if you don’t succeed, intend to get up and remove that weed the next time with persistence and perseverance. “You need to persevere, so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” (Hebrews 10:36)
Pruning and Picking are important steps in the process. Just because your plant is all grown and bearing fruit, does not mean that you are done. Good fruit has to be picked and used or it simply grows mold and goes to waste. Leaving ripe fruit on the vine also produces an ill effect as it will eventually over ripen and fall to the ground, unused and not serving its purpose. Use your fruit. If God has brought out the fruit of kindness, be kind… don’t just reserve that for your friends and family, be kind to strangers, or the person who drives you crazy at work, or the person taking too much time in line at the grocery store. If God has brought you the fruit of patience, be patient… not just with your own kids… but also the teens at your youth group, or the ones at your child’s high school that don’t go to church. Use your fruit wisely, don’t let it go to waste.
Most importantly, remember this… it only took a small seed of faith to move the mountain. In contrast, the smallest seed of doubt can build mountains in front of you that are immovable. Be careful not to plant the wrong seeds within your life.
If you are diligent, careful, and caring as the farmer is, I promise you that you will be able to produce the promises of God in your life, moving mountains that stand in your way, and testifying to the goodness of God.
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