In scripture we are admonished to be ‘instant… in season and out…’ while this can be applied in a variety of settings, I find it especially applicable in sharing the Word. We really don’t know where another person may be in the continuum of being aware of the need for accepting the Lord. I suspect that’s why the agricultural analogy is used because we all can understand the phases of plant life from sowing to harvesting.
We need to be able to plant a seed…. then we need to be able to tend the seed (water)…. and lastly we need to be able to harvest. But what we also need to appreciate is that the seed isn’t ours. Did you understand that? Actually it took me awhile to really understand this when it came to sharing life in Christ.
People are in various stages on the continuum thus it becomes very important for us to be instant. It won’t work to try and harvest when no seed has been planted. Perhaps I’m ahead of myself. The seed isn’t the person, the seed is the Word. We need to be able to seed in other’s lives. This requires us to have the seed planted in ourselves. We need to share what’s in us.
However, it is equally important to understand where the seed is in the other person. You may be watering, like with your experience, your life in Christ. Or the person may be watered and the plant is breaking through the earth and you have the joy of leading the person to accepting and be harvesting.
What I find totally incredible is that the Lord chooses to work with us, through us to touch the lives that are around us. We have the great joy of either seeding… or watering… or harvesting.
