The Secrets of Your Identity IllustrationsSample

Analogy #4: Cultivate Like an Industrious Farmer

Farming requires a lifestyle of patience.

Farming-related comparisons show up many times in the New Testament, and Jesus used them quite frequently in His parables. Paul also related the believer to a farmer. I think this was the most widely recognized analogy by those living in ancient times.

A farmer is different from a shepherd or a soldier. This is the vocation of agriculture, so a different set of rules applies. It requires a lifestyle of patience. Most of us who grew up in the city have no idea what it means to farm, but we do know that farmers who raise crops do at least three things.

Action #1: Planting

A crop farmer’s entire lifestyle and vocation depend on one thing: planting. Everything hinges on sowing seed. If this one thing is not done, even if the land gets the right amount of rain and sunlight, the farmer will go bankrupt.

You must be like a farmer and plant into your own life, whatever that may look like. Reading good Christian books; watching good, wholesome movies; listening to good, clean music; enjoying a walk; spending time with family—all of these, not just the overtly spiritual things, plant good seed in your soul. The idea of planting has to do with investment. You must invest in your soul and see yourself like a farmer. Don’t be afraid to plant seeds of freedom.

Action #2: Cultivating

Once farmers plant, then they begin the process of cultivating those seeds by protecting them. The farmers water their seeds and build fences or create barriers around them to protect them from animals and pests. Farmers prune mature plants.

The same is true for you. When you get set free, you don’t just walk away, trusting God to keep you that way. No. You must cultivate the ground and treat yourself—your heart and mind—like a field. Without good cultivation, there will be no harvest.

Action #3: Harvesting

The goal of every farmer is the harvest. The harvest means farmers will benefit from all the time and effort they spent planting, cultivating, and watering.

It’s not wrong to express joy at your newfound freedom. Tell the whole world about how Jesus set you free—like the man with the legion of demons did in Mark 5:20. Farmers don’t hide their harvests. So, don’t hide your spiritual freedom. Those who hide their spiritual freedom are bound to lose it.