Planting time!

Can I share something with you that my friend Jodi recently wrote on Facebook?

I’m thankful today for another woman (a stranger to me) who moved with the call to imagination and beauty. She poured out her love on this ground. What is now my backyard. And here I am with my little family, years later, enjoying the benefit of that hard and worthy work.

What a great reminder to release the temptation for instant gratification and gratitude. I’ll press into the opportunity to leave a beautiful mark on the world and my people just by living into the woman God created me to be.

Is there really any question as to why Jesus so often used sowing and reaping and planting and harvesting as spiritual metaphors?

I love Jodi’s sweet reminder! Each one of us can press into the idea of how we will leave our beautiful mark on the world and consider how God uniquely created us to do that.

Uniquely created
How much thought have you given to what kinds of seeds God wants you–just you— to sow?

David writes this in Psalm 139:

 You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

David knew that he was uniquely made by God. And just as David praised God for this, we can, too! You are the only you this world will ever know, wired with a specific personality, gifts, abilities and likes. 

Made to plant!
Fearfully and wonderfully made. Centuries after David’s words, it’s almost as if Paul is echoing them when he calls us “God’s masterpiece.” Yet it’s very interesting that he continues that thought immediately with a purpose statement: our purpose statement! “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10).

It certainly seems that God fearfully, wonderfully, and uniquely made us so that we can do and accomplish that which God has specifically planned for us to do.

We were made to plant seeds that only we can plant.

Seeds of faith
Just as my friend Jodi is reaping the benefits of a beautiful backyard someone else planted years ago, we are called to sow seeds of faith into the lives of others that only our lives uniquely intersect with, hoping that in just the right time, they will reap the harvest.

What are some of the seeds we can sow? We can sow seeds of noticing someone and paying attention to them. We can pray for them, serve them and love them by welcoming them into our lives and walking together, sharing our own story of faith in Jesus along the way. What would happen if we sowed seeds of listening to someone, caring about their story and asking them questions?

Just imagine what kind of beautiful plant could grow!

This is the Kingdom
I imagine that beautiful plant might look something like what Jesus described in Mark 4:30-32:

Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.” 

Healthy, flourishing, blossoming, lush…

Let’s get planting.

~Pamela Klein
Editor, On Q