I was watching an episode of “Home Town,” which is a home renovation show that takes place in Laurel, Mississippi. Each episode consists of a person or family who purchase one of the two houses they are shown and then Ben and Erin renovate the home according to the “All-in” budget. In this particular episode, the clients were a local, newly-married couple.
As they talked about their history in Laurel, the wife detailed how her family owned the first floral nursery in Laurel. It was her grandparents who had planted the oak trees that lined the city streets. Planting trees that would beautify their community far beyond their own life was a major aspect of her Grandparents legacy.
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we plant seeds that we may not see come to fruition.
Following Jesus is about living in a now/not yet kingdom. As we live in relationship with Jesus, we experience the reality of Christ now, but we hold on to the hope that one day we will be in heaven and experience life in a whole new reality. As good as relationship with Jesus is in this life, the best is yet to come!
The mission of Jesus is to seek and save the lost. Part of our role in the mission of Christ is to plant seeds.
1. We plant seeds not knowing whether they will take root.
It’s not our job for the seed to imbed in the hearts of people; that’s God’s job. It’s our job to diligently plant seeds.
2. We plant seeds knowing we will not see all the results.
It can be disheartening to think we may not see all of the fruit of our labors. One of our greatest motivations in planting should be the idea that God can do more with the planted seeds than we could ever dream. The fact that God brings results should motivate us to plant more seeds.
3. We plant seeds out of obedience to Jesus, not because we might get to see the harvest.
We operate with a century mindset. We think about time and our impact on mankind in terms of the particular hundred years that we live. We serve a God who sees and works across generations. When we plant seeds in agreement with God’s instruction, He can bring results far beyond what we would see during our lifetime.
Do you think Paul would have ever imagined His letters to the early churches in his region of the world would still be used to impact the world? He was planting seeds in obedience to God’s leading and God has used the seeds to impact the world for over two-thousand years!
Who knows the impact God may make through the seeds we plant today!
Keep Reflecting Jesus!