You should never expect to see any fruit unless you’re willing to plant a seed. My wife and I enjoyed celebrating our anniversary at the Grove in Tyler. We chose the outdoor patio because the weather was perfect and the setting with live music captured the ambience for the occasion. Our young waiter’s name was Joel who was very nice and did a great job. As we began to get ready to leave, I asked Joel if he knew that his name was in the Bible. He said, “yes,” and that he was named after the prophet. That surprised me, but then he said his father was a pastor when he was just a young boy. That information prompted me to go further into the conversation, so I asked Joel, “Have you ever been born again?” Surprisingly, he wasn’t familiar with the term but relayed to some small details of his faith. I encouraged Joel to read from John 3 where he would find the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus in the night and the term, “born again.” We left, but planted a seed God can use.
Here’s the point, if we will take the time to plant the seeds of salvation and eternal life, God will tend to it. God will either water it immediately or he will allow it to germinate for a season. But this is our faith in the sovereign work of God on the hearts of men and women. So the question is, are you a seed planter? I could have made all kinds of excuses to not say a word to Joel, and trust me, I have failed to open my mouth more times than I want to think about. But there are opportunities around us everyday, even while out celebrating special occasions. Plant the seed of eternal life and be a sower in the kingdom of God, and trust God to take care of the rest.
Scripture
(Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 “And as he sowed, some [seed] fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 “But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:3-9
