Sowing and reaping. What an incredible concept. We plant a good seed in good soil, give it a little care; some water, some sun and out of this tiny thing we’ve planted, grows something that feeds and sustains us. And there is always so much more we get in return than what we planted. It is beautiful and good and quite amazing even.

So we must ask the question, what kind of seed are we planting in our own lives?

On New Years day we drove into a small village outside of Bulembu called Malanda. It is a very poor village that sits in the beautiful hills of Swaziland. There we met an old gogo who they say is the oldest woman in Malanda. She cares for and raises her three young orphaned grandchildren whose parents have died and all three children are mentally disturbed.

As we approached her meager homestead we found her sitting under the shade of a small scrub tree. Her tiny, two room home was quite simple, built by only mud and sticks. Inside there is no floor, only hardened mud and the old tin roof has so many holes that when it rains (which it does quite frequently) there is hardly a place to stand in the home that’s dry.

But when she greeted us, there was no sorrow on her face. No self-pity. Only joy in our arrival. We had come to plant for her a small vegetable garden. We toiled in the overgrown weeds and found beneath it beautiful, rich soil. We planted good seeds, gave it water and now there grows something that will help feed her three orphaned grandchildren. But it was not just a sustainable garden we gave her, more important was the expression of love we gave by just showing up.

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

So where will we sow seed this year? Will we only sow seed to feed our own needs and desires, or will we sow seed to the things of God? I’m not talking about spending more time in the church pew. Are we willing to look outside ourselves and sow something good into someone else’s life? As we give into the lives of others we reap from that something beautiful and life giving into our own life. This ancient law we can trust…

“Whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Galatians 6:7

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 11:07 am and is filed under The AR Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.