We tend to think of a farmer sowing and planting for one growing season, usually lasting a few months. That was the case for Jesus' audience as well. The timeframe most people had in mind was one crop-cycle, a few months.
God, the Farmer and Vinegrower (Jn 15:1), plants seeds in every soul. God's "growing season" in a soul may be seventy or eighty years (see Ps 90:10). He plans for a fruitful harvest from the crop-cycle of each soul, thirty or sixty or a hundredfold over the course of each person's life (Mk 4:8).
Parents are accustomed to this type of timing. A parent fertilizes the soil of a child's heart with years of nurturing, feeding, discipling, schooling, disciplining, etc. The parent doesn't expect the child to be ready for college at age eight.
However, the first six or so years of a child's life are absolutely critical. Many seeds need to be sown early in a child's life. "You need patience to do God's will" (Heb 10:36). It requires lasting faith and patient obedience to continually plant seeds without seeing results. Like the farmer, we must go out to sow season after season, whether or not there are any results to be seen. We might be sowing so that others can reap the harvest (see 1 Cor 3:6ff). "Let us not grow weary of doing good" and planting all the seeds God gives us; "if we do not relax our efforts, in due time we shall reap our harvest" (Gal 6:9).
| PRAYER: | Father, give me the grace to sow and plant well for Your Kingdom, even if I will not be alive to see the harvest from the seeds I plant (see 1 Cor 3:6-8). |
| PROMISE: | "Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." –Jer 1:8 |
| PRAISE: | St. Sharbel Makhluf was a Lebanese monk who lived as a hermit in poverty, self-sacrifice, and prayer. He lost his life for Jesus, and thereby discovered who he was (Mt 10:39). |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College