I love a garden. I love to walk out in the early morning and look at the new growth. I have had some great gardens over the years. I haven’t planted anything this year. I still may do it.
The process of planning a garden is fun. I simply plan for the harvest. I know the things that I want to enjoy at the harvest time and thus that dictates what seeds I plant. I know that when I harvest, I want to be able to pick a large juicy, ripe tomato – in fact, several of them. I know that tomato is rich in lycopene. Lycopene has been shown to help protect not only against prostate, but breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers, especially when consumed with fat-rich foods, such as avocado, olive oil or nuts. Tomatoes offer significant anti-oxidant protection. Tomatoes are a very good source of potassium and a good source of niacin, vitamin B6, and folate. Niacin has been used for years as a safe way to lower high cholesterol levels. Diets rich in potassium have been shown to lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. Vitamin B6 and folate are both needed by the body to convert a potentially dangerous chemical called homocysteine into other, benign molecules. High levels of homocysteine, which can directly damage blood vessel walls, are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. All of these nutrients work together to make tomatoes a truly heart-healthy food. So go eat a tomato.
When I harvest, I also want squash, cucumbers, banana peppers, watermelon, and green beans. The taste is awesome and the benefits are outstanding. Just think of how great a watermelon would taste right now. Did you know that a sweet, juicy watermelon is actually packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are substances in the body that can cause a great deal of damage.
Sowing, reaping, harvest…are all terms that we use in the physical world of gardening and on a much larger scale of farming. God gives us physical lessons to help explain spiritual truths. There are three principles that I have observed in my garden:
- You reap what you sow.
- You reap more than you sow.
- You reap later than you sow.
These are not only principles…they are laws of nature. This is set in stone. I know that when I plant 500 seeds of field corn, I will reap field corn…I will reap several hundred ears of corn possessing hundreds of kernels of corn…but I will not reap it for at least 3 months. So you reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.
But this same thing will happen in the spiritual arena also. So let’s plan a spiritual garden. What harvest would you like to see? Let me help you with your spiritual garden. What do you need and enjoy experiencing? For me, I would like to harvest encourament for me; I would like to receive acceptance; I would like friends; I would like to receive adequate funds to enjoy life; I would like to harvest good deeds. Ok…in order to receive that harvest, you must actively plant the following seeds: encouragement, acceptance, friendship, giving, and good deeds. In order for you to be encouraged, you must plant seeds of encouragement. That simply means that today encourage someone…you will reap what you sow, later than you sow, more than you sow. Be a friend today…tomorrow receive more friends than you know what to do with! Give to the church today, give to an orphan today, give to a ministry to day…one day that harvest will come in…in a big way! Accept someone today! Receive it one day! Do good deeds today and receive good deeds in the future. And guess what…in the spiritual arena, you do not have to worry about winter time…you can plant spiritual seeds all the time thus insuring that you will harvest all the time!
But there is another side to story…when you sow bad seeds, you will harvest a bad crop. When you are mean, critical, spiteful, hard, judgemental, rejecting, selfish, cruel, demeaning, disrespectful, and unfriendly….these are all seeds. Remember…even with these…you reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.
Inspect your harvest right now. What are you getting in life? Are people mean, abusive, critical…to you? Did you plant the wrong seeds about 3 months ago or a year ago or two years ago? You say…but I am good now and I am good to people now! Yes, but how were you in days gone by? Whatever flows out of your heart right now, that is what you are going to reap in just a few months! If you don’t like the harvest…adjust the seeds that you are planting.
Does that mean that all bad things that happen to you is a result of you planting bad seeds? No…you may be experiencing the benefits of someone else planting bad seeds.
God bless…go plant some good seeds!
Sheilah and I have a tremendous peace in our life right now. We are in the center of God’s Will for us. That is the most perfect place in life to be! We both are experiencing some wonderful times with the Lord. He is teaching us some great truths. The fellowship with the Lord right now is priceless. It is great to be in the flow of God’s grace and goodness.
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