So. Google is a treasure of information:
“…Seeds generally “wake up” and germinate when soil moisture and temperature conditions are favorable for them to grow. But not all seeds have the same germination requirements, so it is important to know what each seed type needs. Seeds need the proper temperature, moisture, air, and light conditions to germinate…”
Also… try and grow an avocado from a “seed” its not so easy, but weeds like ‘black jacks”?! It’ll sprout and grow on pavement!
There is a part in the bible that the church has programmed people not to read, or to read so superficially that pretty much just skip the chapter, and that is because its probably read or quoted in every second church on the planet every Sunday when they are about to take up the offering.
My mind was pre-occupied, so I missed the cues when 2 Corinthians 9 came up this Sunday, and was already deep into the third paragraph with my highlighter when the deacons came past. And honestly, thats where I got stuck… I am not sure what the rest of the sermon was about.
Follow me for a minute:
“… A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest…”
(2 Corinthians 9:6)
When this was written, sowing seeds meant walking the land and throwing seeds out, THEN, plowing it up to get the seeds inside the ground (thats why the parable of the sower actually makes sense… it wasn’t just a random dude throwing seeds around all over the place!)
And that is when three things jumped out at me:
1. Seeds were designed to grow. To germinate. You can get a dead seed here and there, but by and large, if you have a seed, you have a plant.
2. God designed seeds to multiply
3. This passage is not about seeds!
Take a corn seed. It grows, and produces its fruit. One ear of corn contains about 800 kernels (new seeds, to eat and sow). One hundred bushels? Over 7,000,000 “seeds”. (Probably because “…God loves hilarious generosity!…” – 2 Cor 9:7)
Verse 8 says:
“… Every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do… “
Verse 10 says that whatever you throw out into the world, God will multiply it. “Then He multiplies the seed as you sow it, so that the harvest of your generosity will grow“
But why? Why turn one sown seed into hundreds? So that you have more seeds to sow, more to use for yourself AND so that the person you sow to will have in abundance to also give out and “re-seed” – if there wasn’t enough corn to go around, we would eat it all and starve next week.
But the seeds… its the stuff we throw out every day. Sow kindness and you will receive kindness and spread kindness. Mentor someone, and they will grow and be a mentor. Be helpful, share wisdom, choose joy and share joy. Have grace. Sow love, live compassion (As a handy guide, check out the Fruits of the Spirit). Also… sometimes it works even better to sow a coffee, or a lunch or a stapler.
What you put out there, will multiply and grow, abundantly for you and those you sow to. The “Good” stuff, but unfortunately also the “bad” will grow. Anger, frustration, distrust… hate… judgement. Sit around at a coffee break and complain, and before you know it, every person will try and outdo the next with complaints.
Parables in the bible are quite unique. They hide their true nature and message to save you from the responsibility of having to do something until you are ready to grasp it and to take it up.
Be blessed and deliberately go plant something today!
