"A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing." Proverbs 20:4
I read these words this morning. You know what strikes me funny about this verse? At harvest time he looks. Why would he look, if he didn't plow? He didn't even do the first step to prepare for a harvest. I fear I have been as foolish as he is in certain areas of my life. I have neglected opportunities, and yet hoped for the outcome I desired. Maybe you have also been guilty. As the old saying goes, "There's no use crying over spilled milk," or in this case, unplowed, barren fields, but don't despair! I have good news!
I grew up in a family of hunters. For hunters a year doesn't contain four seasons. It's amazing how many seasons it has. There's quail season, turkey season, duck season, pheasant season, elk season, and even more. Let me not fail to mention the big one, for the benefit of my men folk--deer season! Now for that good news I promised--there are more seasons in your life than there are hunting seasons. In fact, if you're breathing, there's an open season for something today. There's an opportunity to plow, plant, water, weed, or harvest in somebody's life. Maybe you missed being there the way you should have been during the season of your children's lives. Let that be an incentive to invest even more in your grandchildren. Haven't been the spouse you should have been? Begin today! Don't get out of the house much? Write a letter or card of encouragement to someone. You don't know much about politics? Pray for our leaders, and the direction of our nation. You're shy? Often a smile or pat on the back does more good than a multitude of words.
Toward the end of Matthew chapter twenty-four, Jesus discusses faithful and unfaithful servants. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?" (verse 45) According to this verse, a faithful servant is one who can be trusted to do what needs to be done in the proper season. Verse forty-six tells us what the faithful servant will reap. "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing...he shall make him ruler over all his goods." The choice is ours. We can be like the sluggard who looks wistfully at the barren field and finds nothing, or we can be like the faithful servant who was busy in due season, and was exalted by the Lord Himself.
By the way, those mini zinnias I previously wrote about that I planted in March, they are enriching my garden today with a myriad of beautiful, bright colors. I have been meaning to share that. I guess it wasn't meant to be shared until today.
I read these words this morning. You know what strikes me funny about this verse? At harvest time he looks. Why would he look, if he didn't plow? He didn't even do the first step to prepare for a harvest. I fear I have been as foolish as he is in certain areas of my life. I have neglected opportunities, and yet hoped for the outcome I desired. Maybe you have also been guilty. As the old saying goes, "There's no use crying over spilled milk," or in this case, unplowed, barren fields, but don't despair! I have good news!
I grew up in a family of hunters. For hunters a year doesn't contain four seasons. It's amazing how many seasons it has. There's quail season, turkey season, duck season, pheasant season, elk season, and even more. Let me not fail to mention the big one, for the benefit of my men folk--deer season! Now for that good news I promised--there are more seasons in your life than there are hunting seasons. In fact, if you're breathing, there's an open season for something today. There's an opportunity to plow, plant, water, weed, or harvest in somebody's life. Maybe you missed being there the way you should have been during the season of your children's lives. Let that be an incentive to invest even more in your grandchildren. Haven't been the spouse you should have been? Begin today! Don't get out of the house much? Write a letter or card of encouragement to someone. You don't know much about politics? Pray for our leaders, and the direction of our nation. You're shy? Often a smile or pat on the back does more good than a multitude of words.
Toward the end of Matthew chapter twenty-four, Jesus discusses faithful and unfaithful servants. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?" (verse 45) According to this verse, a faithful servant is one who can be trusted to do what needs to be done in the proper season. Verse forty-six tells us what the faithful servant will reap. "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing...he shall make him ruler over all his goods." The choice is ours. We can be like the sluggard who looks wistfully at the barren field and finds nothing, or we can be like the faithful servant who was busy in due season, and was exalted by the Lord Himself.
By the way, those mini zinnias I previously wrote about that I planted in March, they are enriching my garden today with a myriad of beautiful, bright colors. I have been meaning to share that. I guess it wasn't meant to be shared until today.
