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Plowing for the Lord

April 29th, 2009 by Jeremy Sprouse

This year, my wife and I are making our first attempt at planting a garden. Not that we have been doing much of the work—Charles Kelly has done most of it so far. He’s plowed it and tilled it and readied the soil for planting. Now it’s our turn to do the work. Chances are we don’t have a clue what we’ve gotten ourselves into. There will be a lot of weeding and general care. We’re excited and looking forward to our harvest. Our patch is small compared to a farm, and we’re no farmers, but it calls to mind the many passages in the New Testament where our Christian service is related to farming. In 2 Timothy 2:6, Paul writes: “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.” Notice two points that Paul makes about the farmer we need to realize in our Christian service.
First, the farmer is a hard worker. Farming is not an easy task. It takes diligence and determination. Solomon wrote of the uselessness of a lazy man’s field and the poverty that results from it (Proverbs 24:30-34). Ecclesiastes 11:4 says: “He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.” If a farmer waited for the perfect conditions before working, he may never work. As Christians, we need to be hard workers as well. We need to be disciplined and determined to work. We cannot fold our hands to rest—there is work to do. It is easy to watch the winds of our lives and say the time is not right. Often, people say, “I can’t do that now, but wait till… my job settles down… my house sells… baseball season is over…” They believe they will become better servants and workers for God when life settles down. We do not know if life will ever settle down. As soon as one thing settles down, another rises up and demands more of our attention. If we make too many excuses or are just plain lazy, we may end up with no crop to reap from at all (Galatians 6:7).
Second, the farmer is the first to receive his share. It can be discouraging when we have to wait for results. Plants may take months to grow and produce a crop ready for harvesting. It is difficult to think of the reward when all we see are rows of dirt in front of us. All of the hard work, time, and effort pays off, however, when it is finally time to harvest. There is satisfaction from the work done and fresh food to eat. As Christians, we may see little or no results from our plowing for the Lord. It is common to think we are doing no good and accomplishing nothing. The future reward, however, should encourage us. It gives us something to look forward to. Instead of discouragement, we need to be patient like a farmer (James 5:7). Too many have become discouraged and have stopped working for the Lord. If we look back or turn back from the work we can lose our reward (Luke 9:62).
Hard work produces results and is satisfying. It is true in farming and it is true in Christianity. We need to be diligent and determined to work and serve God knowing our labors will not be in vain, there is a great reward waiting for us if we are patient.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 11:37 am and is filed under Bulletin Articles.

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