"Truly, truly, I say to you,unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12 v 24)
My eldest daughter is incredibly similar to me, so when she came home from nursery school last year waving an orangey brown potting tub full of soil, I knew exactly what to expect.
“Dad it’s a seed! Look!”
Cue, continual removal and replanting of the seed back beneath the crumbly depths of the compost. There would be some respite for Mr Sunflower seed, but only for an hour or so until another visitor arrived and we’d begin the process of digging it up all over again.
This continued for a number of days, looking, inspecting and replanting. If I’m honest, it got a bit tiresome but to her it was fascinating.
This process made me realise seeds can’t grow unless we leave them in the dark. A strawberry plant won’t arrive unless we bury the seed in a pot of soil and let nature work.
The sower in Jesus’ parable didn’t stop to look at the seed or to pick it up and set it down again. He threw it across his land and knew it would fall where it was meant to.
As children of God, we would do well to remember this when we sow. It’s not our place to run after the seed to inspect it again or hold on to it. This is just stage one of the process. If the seed is to change into a fruit bearing plant, it needs the opportunity to root in and begin its journey from one thing to another. Just as a seed needs to die in order to bear fruit, so must our constant desire to dig it back up and check on the progress.
Today, why not follow Father God’s example and sow without a need to constantly dig up. Given the right time and space, they will take root and abundant blessing will be harvested for the kingdom.