Devotions Inspired By Beyond BlessedSample

JESUS’ FARMING ADVICE
by Tim Ross

Have you ever heard the term low-hanging fruit? It refers to fruit that’s easy to harvest. You can walk right up to it and it’s ready and easy to pick. Looking back, that’s how I could describe myself at age 20. See, I grew up in one of the most warm and loving homes you can imagine. I hit the lottery when it came to parents. They had structured our home to be a safe environment where you could be honest and transparent, but I couldn’t operate in that world, and I’ll tell you why. 

At age eight, I was sexually abused by a neighbor across the street, and I decided to keep it a secret from my parents. This secret destroyed me from the inside out, causing me to struggle with addiction and insecurity. One day when I was 19, my mother discovered and confronted my addiction, and that’s when I finally told her my secret. I found out that she and my father had both suffered the same abuse as children. In that moment of truth, the Holy Spirit began to work in my life, and six months later I stood up from my seat in the back of my parents’ church, and I said, “I give up. I need to give my life to God right now.” 

See what I mean by low-hanging fruit? No one even had to invite me to get saved. My parents had sowed a seed in me decades before, and I was ready for the harvest. 

There’s a mistake we tend to make when we think about evangelism. We only think about the harvest—that salvation moment—when there’s an entire agricultural process that’s involved in evangelism. We forget about sowing (sharing the gospel) and watering (treating someone with kindness and love and praying for them) because they don’t seem as exciting as harvesting. However, God has given all of us the gifts of sowing and watering as well as harvesting, even though you may be most comfortable in one or another. 

In fact, take a look at the parable of the sower in today’s verse (Matthew 13:3–8). Jesus uses it to instruct us to sow the seed of the gospel everywhere we go. If we take His parable literally, it’s really terrible farming advice, because the sower doesn’t care whether the ground is thorny or stony—he just throws it out everywhere! 

So many of us are worried about making the seed stick or explaining our faith in a way that people can get it. The truth is, those are the jobs of the Holy Spirit. Our job is simply to sow our seed. Just like the sower in the parable, take a handful and chuck it! And ask the Holy Spirit, “What is my assignment today? Am I sowing, watering, or harvesting?” Chances are, as you steward your role in the agricultural process of evangelism, you might do a little of each. It’s all a matter of listening to His voice and following where He leads as you sow, water, and harvest.

PRAYER
Lord, thank You for giving me a role in bringing people to You. Give me a heart for the lost around me and give me boldness and love as I share the gospel with them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

MEMORY VERSE  
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. HEBREWS 13:17