A Time to Sow预览

A Time to Sow

There are at least half a dozen parables in the Bible that have to do with spiritual parallels to planting. Mark 4 alone includes three parables about planting seeds – the Parable of the Sower, The Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. These parables were intentionally included in the same chapter. Yet, how many of us recognize the significance of them?

Our lives are like spiritual gardens. The seeds we plant can either make us thrive or be detrimental to the calling God has placed on our lives. Just as Jesus used parables to illustrate how our lives are like a garden, I believe we can see those same examples in gardens today. The most exquisite gardens in the world did not become what they are by chance. They were deliberately created and designed to look the way they do. 

Many of these gardens took decades to become what they are today. The gardens at the Château de Versailles in France, for instance, took over 40 years to be completed. In 1661, considering the gardens of Versailles as important as the palace, Louis XIV assigned André Le Nôtre to renovate the gardens. The project required the help of thousands of men. To keep it maintained for years to come, trees would have to be planted every 100 years.

Every detail was planned out. Trees were brought in from various regions of France. The beauty of the gardens came to fruition, but it took time to get there and still requires work.

In the same way, we have to be intentional about the seeds we plant in our lives in order to reap the harvest that God has for us. We have to continue to maintain our gardens. As you begin to sow seeds in your life, you have to be intentional. Are the seeds you are planting in your life today going to produce a beautiful garden in the coming years?