The Question: Are You a Seed Planter in Your Home?

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."  (Matt. 24:40).  Are your spouse and children "the least of these'?

Hey Gang, I am a compulsive Seed Planter.  "To the extent" is a very important phrase; pay attention to it.  I believe it might even be considered a spin off from what we have learned already about the word measure.  There are many in American who think all we have to do is "believe" and we are home free and can do just about anything we want to do.  But Jesus debunked that thought when He said, "By the same measure that you forgive, judge, and give of your talents and resources, He will reciprocate.” (Gramps rendition)

Paul made this very clear when he wrote, "You are going to reap what you sow".  I like the English  Bible translation of this verse, “Don’t deceive yourselves; no one can make a fool of God; whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  He who sows in the lower nature will from that nature reap a blighted harvest. He who reaps from the Spirit will from the Spirit reap life eternal.  Don’t get tired of the fine things, for when the proper time comes, we will reap so long as we don’t relax our efforts” (Gal 6:7-8).

One would think that "reap what you sow" would be a common-sense law; one that would be easy to understand. Drink huge amounts of alcohol equals liver problems; smoking leads to lung problems; drugs fouls your brain.  One does not have to be a rocket scientist to understand the hazards involved in this kind of seed planting but yet the numbers involved in these death-defying actions continue to rise each year.

In our parenting classes we always had one or more of what I termed my "agony and pain club”. These parents were bent on doing things their own way.  We could not convince them of the correlation between anger in their children and anger demonstrated in their own lives.   The "chip off the old block" unfortunately carries more truth than we like to think. 

 Years ago we had a young man who was doing fabulously in the program.  He was exceeding even his own expectations in school, in the physical program areas. and was becoming more involved in Chapel each week.  Then one night he ran away, stole a car and ended up in jail.  When asked why?  He said, "Mr. H., if I turn my life around like you want, I will be the odd ball in my family".  A tragic story, but one we heard many times.

Paul gave us the principle "You will reap what you sow".  Now turn to Dr. Luke to find step one in implementing the principle:  Luke 6:38 begins with a power word "give".  Now, notice once again, we run into the "measure principle" -"Give, and it will be given to you".   We have learned in our walk with the Lord that the old adage "You cannot out give God" is oh, so true!  

Luke goes on and puts legs on God's reciprocating giving policy: "It shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, they will pour into your lap." And he closes this truth with a promise from the throne room: "For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return."  

Let me share a neat success story based on this giving principle.  A friend shared that his daughter was suffering greatly with depression and had left college and moved home.  He shared he had taken her to the best therapist he could find, but after several months the depression seemed to deepen.  I suggested that he pack her up and take her back to college and allow her to work through the problem.  Upon their arrival back at college she found her roommate bedfast with mononucleosis.  Immediately, she became a giver by taking care of her.  The roommate recovered under her care and her depression took a hike.

Soooo,  A study was done in the Retirement Villages of Florida, a few years back. Researchers found when they asked, “If you could impact in a person’s life, would you return to the cold north and do this?” a tragic response.  A very large percentage said, "No" they had no interest in getting involved in the lives of their kids and grand kids.  It is hard for God to bless in the same measure when we choose not to reach out to our  families and neighbors.  Luke says "Give”.  Paul says, "You will reap what you sow"!  Jesus said, "You will be blessed!”

Blessings,

Gramps
PS New blog on grampswhatshappeningman.blogspot.com posted Tues Jan 5. So much happening will post there Tuesday and Saturday for 4 weeks.