Our children teach us many valuable life lessons if we pay attention. For example, when Joshua was about 4 we had a strawberry patch in our garden. He watched as the berries grew, but had a hard time waiting until they were ripe. Occasionally he would pick the green ones and then ask, “is this one ripe?” Every time his question would garner the same response, “no, the berries have to be red, so don’t pick them until they are, otherwise the fruit will taste bad.” As Christians, it may be tempting to think that handing out a flyer, giving an invitation to church, even answering Bible questions is all we need to do to bring about a harvest of souls, not understanding that people, like plants, take time, and investment of ourselves, in order to ripen.
Lesson: Be careful, then, not to move people faster than the Holy Spirit is ripening their hearts for Jesus.
Another time when Hope was very young, I was going on a church building mission trip and gave her the task of planting the garden. Everything was ready, and I showed her where to plant each vegetable. I returned home to a planted garden and was grateful for her hard work. When the vegetables began to grow I noticed there were no squash plants coming up where she was to plant. Patiently I waited and still, no plants. Upon inquiry I discovered from her childlike wisdom that since she didn’t like squash, she didn’t plant any. As Christ’s followers we may think that what we have to offer others is insignificant and be tempted to do nothing. Everyone of us can do something, and that something will be uniquely us and valuable in the preparing of God’s harvest.
Lesson: You won’t harvest what isn’t there. Even one squash seed can produce a basket of squash. Don’t sell God or yourself short. Your friendship, however small, prayerfully invested in the life of another, may produce an abundance of fruit that wouldn’t happen without you.
Pastor Jim Bollin