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Resources - Meditations
June 2000
An Abundant Crop !
Rev. John Ter Horst
The beans we planted this year did not produce a very good crop. By way
of comparison, last year was a bumper crop. It was as if they grew
overnight. But not so this time! The soil was certainly fertile enough,
the worms bore testimony to that fact. We added plenty of compost, and
we watered most days. (by the way, I use the word “we” generously here –
Corrie, my wife, spends more time in the garden than I do). Most of the
other vegetables grew reasonably well, though we have endured an
extremely dry season. When discussing the produce of vegetable gardens,
other people in the church grew beans that did extremely well. We’re not
sure of the reasons. Sowing with a view to reaping a particular amount,
can be unpredictable. Most home gardeners would agree to that.
Living as we do in a rural community, we are exposed to commercials on
television advertising the most recent fertilisers. Apparently, the days
of simply sowing a crop and waiting for God to provide rain and growth,
are long gone. If one could believe the jingles of advertising, good
growth of most crops can be guaranteed. But then again, why should we
believe them about that, they are wrong about most other things.
I was contemplating these issues in connection with what we read in
Isaiah. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not
return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my
word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but
will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it.” [10-11]
These verses seem to say at least two things. First, there is a
reiteration of the promise made by God to Noah after the flood, namely,
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” [Genesis 8:22] There
is in the Isaiah reference a promise for God’s creation. But there is
more than that. God promises that His Word is as reliable as the
seasons, when it comes to accomplishing the purpose for which God sends
it. That truth is most beautifully displayed in the life of Jesus, the
Word of God in human flesh. [John 1:1-2]
Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh. The Bible too is the Word of God.
When the Bible is preached, taught, explained, and lived, it too does
not return to God empty. The Word of God is living and active. The
declaring and living out of this Word WILL accomplish what God desires.
The proclamation of the Gospel WILL achieve the purpose for which God
sends it out. This is one sowing that the Church performs, assured of a
crop. While the fruit it bears may at times be unexpected, even
unwanted. Christians pray that everyone exposed to God’s Word will
repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, and so be saved. Reality tells a
different story. However, that should not lead to the assumption that
God’s Word has lost its power, or, perhaps worse, that the words of
Isaiah concerning God’s Word are not true.
We planted our beans this year with only one aim, to enjoy the fruit of
it with our meal. We preach, teach, share, and live the Word of God with
a similar view in mind, to see a harvest for God. Christians cannot help
but desire to see others enter the kingdom of God. Yet, even when that
does not happen in the ways we would like, we continue to sow in
confidence. Confident, not in our sowing, but in the Word of God. A Word
that still says to us, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and
flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me
empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for
which I sent it.”
A Prayer: Dear Father, help us to be faithful to your calling, and
confidently leave the results to you. Amen
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