Field or Farm?
Theme of the Week: Work in Progress
Bob Benson
Monday, March 17, 2003
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Key Bible Verses: "Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field … " (Mark 4:3-4). Bonus Reading:Mark 4:4-20
Jesus was obviously talking about me when he spoke about rich soil producing abundantly. But lately I've been thinking that, while I may be old Mr. Goodsoil, I also answer to Pathway, Rocky, and Thistles. The parable's all about me. I'm not a single field, I'm a whole farm!
Some fields I've cultivated with His help produce bountifully. But some land is trampled hard because I always went the easiest way. Some seasons, my enthusiasm as shoots emerged turned to frustration as they wilted because my preparation and commitment lacked depth. Then there's a patch of rich, plowed ground dotted with weeds that I've either invited to come or allowed to stay.
Here's a new way to read this simple story: A farmer goes out to plant some seed, and some seed falls on a footpath, some falls on shallow soil, some falls among thorns, and some falls on fertile soil. And a farmer goes out to plant some seed, and some seed falls on a footpath ….
Read it ten times this way. You'll realize that the Farmer keeps on planting, never discouraged that you have far more poor soil than good or despairing of seeds that don't produce.
—Bob Benson in "See You at the House"
My Response: What in my life corresponds to each soil type?
Thought to Apply: We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German poet, 18th century)
Adapted from "See You at the House" (Generoux, 1986) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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Lord, don't let me accept staying stunted; give me the desire to develop into a solid disciple.
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