Precious Seed

By David Marriott

Based on John 4

Danny and Mom (Danny needs a needle, thread and a package of seeds)

Danny – (singing) sowing in the morning, sowing in the evening, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve, waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall….

Mom – Hi Danny. What are you up to?

Danny – I listened to the preacher this morning and he was talking about sowing seeds. He said if we sow seeds then, we will rejoice with the reaper guy. Is that the dude from Halloween?

Mom – First of all, no silly, it’s not the Halloween guy. It is the man or woman who harvests crops.

Danny – Oh, I see. The reaper is someone who collects the plants that used to be seeds.

Mom – That’s right; it sounds like you understand.

Danny – Yeah, as soon as I get this needle threaded through this packet of Burpee seeds, I will go and sow a shirt or a blanket or something in some dirt by a farm, so the reaper will find it.

Mom – O.K., I was wrong I don’t think you get it yet. Danny, sowing is another word for planting.

Danny – Oh, like the flowers you plant every year in the front yard.

Mom – Exactly, I plant them and then you water them daily and we enjoy them together.

Danny – I get it, but why was pastor talking about gardening in church?

Mom – He wasn’t talking about plant gardening; he was talking about planting seeds in hearts.

Danny – How do you do that mom?

Mom – Well, the Bible refers to the gospel as precious seed. When we tell someone about Jesus we are sowing or planting the seeds in their heart.

Danny – I think I am getting it now.

Mom – Most of the time when we tell someone that they need to be saved and we tell them about Christ’s love for them and his work on the cross, they don’t get saved the first time. Normally it takes a few times of hearing the gospel before they get saved.

Danny – I see, that is where the watering comes in. When one person plants the seed of the gospel, then someone else waters the seed and then the person gets saved and both people rejoice together.

Mom – Yes, exactly, just remember that no matter how hard you sow and how much you water it is God that giveth the fruit (increase).

Danny – Mom, aren’t there seasons for planting and reaping?

Mom – Well in farming there are seasons for reaping but the spiritual harvest is now. Jesus said not to say that there are four months and then harvest, but to lift up your eyes and to look unto fields for they are white already to harvest.

Danny – Mom, you can have your thread, needle and seeds back. I am going to go sow some spiritual seed.