Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Romantic Bible Verses: Sowing and Reaping


heart-shaped mini-tomato
Originally uploaded by iz*source.



After being on vacation for over a week, I took on the task of weeding the garden. Our garden is just a small one. This year we planted peas, carrots, tomatoes in 2 varieties, cucumbers, and swiss chard. For some reason, the carrots never came up but everything else did really well.

The peas and the swiss chard have been on for a while. As a matter of fact, the peas are all done and I pulled them up with the weeds. After the weeds and the peas were removed from the garden, I noticed out first tomatoes and cucumbers were ready. The garden is now back in shape and my sweetie is in tomato heaven.

Working in the garden reminds me of the simple yet profound "law of the harvest". Simply put it is: you harvest what you plant. This law is found in Galatians 6:7-10
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.


Consider how silly it would be to plant carrot seeds and expect pumpkin, or to plant peas and expect an apple tree. A gardener knows what is planted in the spring determines what is harvested months later. The decisions are made and the work performed long before the fruits are expected.

Of course, planting does not guarantee the harvest. The plants need care. They require proper amounts of sunshine, water, feeding and weeding to thrive and produce a bounteous harvest. Daily weeding and care makes the garden easy to care for and a joy to behold. Neglecting the weeding stifles the plants and makes a for a much harder task. The weeds rob the growing plants of needed water and food, and if allowed to remain, can even kill the desirable plants. Ongoing, thoughtful care of the garden will produce better results than extended periods of negligence followed by intermittent times of effort and attention.

There are many applications of the law of the harvest to marriage and I expect to visit this topic later.

What is being sown? How is it being cared for? Each act of benevolence and kindness plants a seed that can, in the future, produce a harvest of joy and love. Daily care and attention applied to your sweetheart ensures that the seeds will sprout, grow and thrive. Similarly each act of spite, discourtesy and malice also plants a seed. These seeds will also grow, producing anger and distrust.

Be sure to keep your garden planted with good seeds and to keep the weeds out by daily care and attention.

2 comments:

Rosemary said...

My DH is constantly sowing seeds of thoughtfulness. I only hope that I also am as careful to sow such seeds in his heart each day.

BV

momsmusings said...

I enjoyed this post. It is a great reminder of how we should be living.