Last summer, we held an outdoor water baptism service.  Afterwards, we celebrated with refreshments and ice cold watermelon.  It was delicious!  Some of the kids (and dads) were practicing spitting seeds into the rock filled median strips on the parking lot.   It was a lot of fun and we really had a great day.

 

Little did we know that those little seeds would work their way through the rocks and the cracks until they planted themselves into the ground below.  This summer, instead of a rock-filled strip of space, we found a patch of watermelons!  The vines had covered the rocky ground and cute, bright green watermelons began to sprout.  What seemed like a silly, pointless act of spitting seeds actually produced something very fruitful.

 

Someone noticed the watermelons and said, “I think there is a message in that!”  And there is.

 

When we pray for friend, give encouragement to a co-worker, or act in kindness to a stranger, it is like planting a seed. What may seem small and insignificant to you, could have a major impact on the life of someone else.  But like a seed, we sometimes do not see what is taking place below the surface.  We can become discouraged thinking that nothing it actually going on…that we somehow failed.  We can feel like giving up because we do not see any change on the surface from what we have done.

 

The scripture says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).  The apostle Paul is encouraging us to not lose hope while we are planting the seeds of goodness.  We may not see the results instantly, but as the Spirit of God is working on the life of the person, we will see the outcome at the right moment.

 

 

I received a phone call late Saturday evening from a friend.  He began to tell me about his nephew who had been addicted to heroine and had led a very troubled life.  My friend then said to me, “You and the Holy Spirit saved his life!”  As I didn’t know his nephew, I didn’t know how I could have helped him.  He then told me the young man’s name and suddenly I did remember him.  He had walked into one of our services and experienced the love of God.  He left and I never saw him again.  But the impact of that encounter was like a seed.  He couldn’t shake the love of God that he felt.  The young man checked himself into a rehabilitation center and is on his way to a full recovery.

 

You never know what will happen to the seeds that you plant!  Rev. Robert Schuller once wrote, “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.” God can take that kind word and loving act and use it to plant a seed into the hardest heart that could end up influencing the lives of numerous individuals.  Do not be discouraged…keep doing good.  Sometimes those good seeds will fall through the cracks and produce a beautiful harvest for God!

 

Remember…You Are A Champion!