When Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He used the language of agriculture because farming inherently teaches us patience, rhythm, and seasons. Unlike a sudden explosion, a seed requires time. It must sit in the dark, break through the dirt, and grow slowly before it bears fruit. Farming also shows the balance between our responsibility and God’s sovereignty. A farmer does the hard work of ploughing and sowing, but they are powerless to force growth. Growth is a mysterious act of God.
As we looked at last Sunday, sharing our faith is a patient farming process, not fishing with dynamite. It can unfold in three agricultural seasons:
Cultivating the Soil: Cultivating shatters compaction, drives fresh oxygen into the dirt, and eliminates competing weeds so nutrients can reach the crop. Spiritually, this is the essential work of preparing a hard heart through listening, hospitality, and building trust. You cannot harvest where you have not first ploughed the ground.
Planting the Seed: Planting requires a calculated burial and firm seed-to-soil contact so the seed can absorb moisture, crack open, and die to its old form to come alive. Once the seed leaves the farmer’s hand, they lose all control. For us, this is the courageous shift to speaking specific truths about Jesus, trusting that while we plant, only God makes it grow.
Reaping the Harvest: Reaping is dictated by a strict window of maturity. Harvest too early and the grain rots; harvest too late and the crop shatters and is lost. When a heart is ready, reaping requires radical integrity. We avoid high-pressure manipulation, but we also do not let fear keep us from inviting someone to repent, believe, and follow Christ.
We need to stop measuring success solely by the final harvest. The body of Christ desperately needs cultivators who plough and planters who sow just as much as it needs reapers. God alone gives the growth. This week, look at the unique soil of the people around you. Identify which season you are in with them and ask God for the wisdom to take just the next faithful step.
Ash
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