A LESSON FROM THE FARM

Once upon a time, a farmer planted a seed. In fact, he planted thousands of seed. He put fertilizer in the soil, cultivated it, and waited. He waited for the rain; he waited for the sunshine to do its work. And he waited some more. Every so often the farmer would look over the field, but it wasn't time yet. Then, one day after many weeks of watching and waiting, he took his sickle and went into the field to harvest the grain. It was a large harvest, enough to feed his family, with much left over. Many people came to him to buy grain for their families to live from during the coming winter.

But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. 

Mark 4:29

The farmer doesn't dig up the seed every few days to see if it's taking root. He doesn't bring in the harvest before it's ripe and ready. And he doesn't leave it for a couple of months after it's ripe before he harvests it. Any of these procedures would mean the end of the crop. No harvest. A failure. And no food for his family, no food for the community.

The moral of the story? We can plant seed and tend it; we can water it and watch it grow. What we can't do is make it grow. It's like planting the seed of the Word of God, the gospel, in people's lives. That's the heart of evangelism. We can feed them, care for them, but we can't make them grow. We can't bring on the harvest through any effort of our own. Only the Lord has the power to do this. What we must know is when to put in the sickle, when to bring in the harvest. That also comes from the Lord, but we have to watch, to be observant so that we are ready when the time of harvest is here.

The same goes for business. We can plant seed--advertise. We can tend it--follow-up. We can wait and watch, observe and be ready for the time of harvest--the actual sale or sign-up of the new prospect. If we try to "dig up the seed" every few days by constantly bugging these people, we will destroy the harvest--it will fail. If we over fertilize--push ourselves, our products or business opportunities on them with too much hype--the crop will be 'burned', roots destroyed. Over-watering drowns the plants. We need to understand the needs of each plant and treat it (him/her) with care and wisdom. We must also learn to understand the signs of harvest. Any farmer will tell you how he knows when the grain is ready to be reaped. A good business person will also know the exact time to "put in the sickle" and gather in the harvest. It's a waiting game, but we can't wait too long or the crop will spoil--either the prospect will lose interest or will sign up with someone else. Either way, failure results. 

So, whether we are ministering in the area of spiritual matters or building a successful business, we should learn a lesson from the farmer. Then the harvest will be good. Others will come to us because of what we have to offer. All will profit.

Let's go plant some seed!