I've done a fair bit of travelling over the last few weeks, and as I have travelled i have noticed that there a a few crops approaching readiness for harvest. It doesn't seem to be all that long ago that i saw news reports of farmers working day and night after some good rain trying to get the ground prepared and seeds sown in the hope of a good crop and some more rain.
Now as i am travelling around is can see fields of what i think is barley, wheat and canola all approaching readiness for harvest. Now I am certainly no farmer, and i don't really know how long is left until these crops will be harvested, but i do know that when the time comes, the farmers will be flat out getting that crop in, this is what they have been waiting for.
As I was doing my devotions last night i re-read the story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. It is the latter part of this passage in John chapter 4 that got me thinking about these paddocks again.
As i look back over my life i can see people who have planted seeds in my life, i can see people who have watered those seeds and tended the new shoots as they have grown from a seed. I can also see that there were people who recognised my readiness and harvested the product of those seeds. I also hope that i am now watering, tending and harvesting the results of seed planted in my life and in the life of others.
While it took people to plant tend and harvest, it is God that has really done much of the work; prompting, challenging and helping me to grow and much of the credit of who I have become today goes to Him.
John 4: 35 - 38 says:
Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!
"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That's the truth of the saying, 'This one sows, that one harvests.' I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."
The same is true today, lets get out there, plant the seeds of the good news of Jesus Christ in peoples lives, lets care for those who are growing in their faith and lets harvest that which is ready and put it to use for the Kingdom of God.
It is my prayer that there will always be seeds being sown, growth being tended to, and harvests being yielded. Is this your prayer? And if so, what are you doing about it?
Showing posts with label samaritan woman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samaritan woman. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Deep Wells
I cleaned up my office on Monday!!!
Now this might not seem like much, but my office was a complete mess!! It took the best part of the mornings work to clean up more than 5 weeks worth of clutter, a clutter that seemed to grow through my infrequent visits to the office interspersed with periods of more than a week away from aforementioned office.
Upon cleaning my office i discovered that i had no less than half a dozen books sitting on my desk that needed my attention. Some of these books should have been read sooner, some will wait longer before needing any serious attention, but none the less there were 6 books on my desk that needed to be at least glanced at.
So yesterday afternoon i picked up on book, and decided to start reading it.
The author used this story to illustrate a point:
A tourist takes a holiday to a working Sheep Station in out-back Australia, while in this holiday he follows the farmer around on his rounds one day as he checks the sheep. As they drive around the station the tourist notices that there are no fences in sight. Perplexed by this realisation the tourist eventually asks the farmer "Where are your fences, aren't you worried that the sheep will wander away and get lost?" The farmer, a laid back sort of bloke, points towards the windmill over the way and says "I find that if you dig a decent well that produces good water, the sheep don't wander too far."
As i read this story i was reminded of a story in the bible. The Message version puts it like this:
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
As i read these stories i began to think about the well of living water in my life and the wells that i am helping God to plant as i travel around the division.
If i invest in my life, plant a deep well of living water in my life, full of 'God water' then as i follow in Jesus' footsteps i will not wander too far from His path. In the same way, if i can clearly communicate the gospel to others, to share with them what God is doing in my life and what He is capable of doing in their lives, then a deep well with good water will be sunk into their lives and will sustain them as they try to follow in Jesus footsteps.
And if this well is good and deep then when we lose sight of God and wander away, we will not wander too far for the well and will return once again to drink of the life giving waters.
The other thing that occurred to me is that where there is water there is abundant life. When the well is producing a good supply of good water, life is abundant. Think of an oasis in the desert, there are trees and plants, there are animals, and people come by the oasis to refresh their supplies of water and to relax. Life happens at an oasis.
If our well is deep and producing plenty of living water in our own lives, then this will be visible to others and they will want to get some of this water too. Initially we can share some of this living water with them, but the real blessing would be to help people dig their own well, where they can have their own supply of living water.
Here are a few questions for you to ponder:
How deep is your well today?
What is the quality of water that is being produced from it?
Have you drank from the well recently?
Are you being generous with the water that springs from the well of living water, or are you restricting or rationing your living water?
Now this might not seem like much, but my office was a complete mess!! It took the best part of the mornings work to clean up more than 5 weeks worth of clutter, a clutter that seemed to grow through my infrequent visits to the office interspersed with periods of more than a week away from aforementioned office.
Upon cleaning my office i discovered that i had no less than half a dozen books sitting on my desk that needed my attention. Some of these books should have been read sooner, some will wait longer before needing any serious attention, but none the less there were 6 books on my desk that needed to be at least glanced at.
So yesterday afternoon i picked up on book, and decided to start reading it.
The author used this story to illustrate a point:
A tourist takes a holiday to a working Sheep Station in out-back Australia, while in this holiday he follows the farmer around on his rounds one day as he checks the sheep. As they drive around the station the tourist notices that there are no fences in sight. Perplexed by this realisation the tourist eventually asks the farmer "Where are your fences, aren't you worried that the sheep will wander away and get lost?" The farmer, a laid back sort of bloke, points towards the windmill over the way and says "I find that if you dig a decent well that produces good water, the sheep don't wander too far."
As i read this story i was reminded of a story in the bible. The Message version puts it like this:
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
As i read these stories i began to think about the well of living water in my life and the wells that i am helping God to plant as i travel around the division.
If i invest in my life, plant a deep well of living water in my life, full of 'God water' then as i follow in Jesus' footsteps i will not wander too far from His path. In the same way, if i can clearly communicate the gospel to others, to share with them what God is doing in my life and what He is capable of doing in their lives, then a deep well with good water will be sunk into their lives and will sustain them as they try to follow in Jesus footsteps.
And if this well is good and deep then when we lose sight of God and wander away, we will not wander too far for the well and will return once again to drink of the life giving waters.
The other thing that occurred to me is that where there is water there is abundant life. When the well is producing a good supply of good water, life is abundant. Think of an oasis in the desert, there are trees and plants, there are animals, and people come by the oasis to refresh their supplies of water and to relax. Life happens at an oasis.
If our well is deep and producing plenty of living water in our own lives, then this will be visible to others and they will want to get some of this water too. Initially we can share some of this living water with them, but the real blessing would be to help people dig their own well, where they can have their own supply of living water.
Here are a few questions for you to ponder:
How deep is your well today?
What is the quality of water that is being produced from it?
Have you drank from the well recently?
Are you being generous with the water that springs from the well of living water, or are you restricting or rationing your living water?
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