Planting Seeds
/A few weeks ago, on a sunny day, I decided it was time to plant seeds in the garden. I wait to buy starter plants, because, I have learned that February spring days only serve to get our hopes up. So, I planted seeds. Lettuce seeds. Teeny-tiny little seeds barely visible in the bottom of their brown packets.
Reese, my six year old son, and I turned the soil and prepared the raised beds. We dug our little trenches, the new home for the seeds. I gently placed the teeny-tiny little lettuce seeds in the ground. But, Reese scattered his seeds, much to the dismay of his perfectionist Mom. “They are too small”, he said!
And then … 2nd winter. That’s what I call the dreadful temperature drop just after the February spring days tease us to wear flip-flop and shorts, plant our gardens, and mow our lawns. Freezing temperatures and rain. Rain! For DAYS … ON … END! Now, the muddy, soggy mess of a garden can only be viewed from inside my master bathroom.
The seeds are nestled in the ground. I have not forgotten the seeds. I’m not tending them, either. The seeds are just there, waiting.
The Master Teacher planted seeds. Different seeds. Seeds that will also wait, just below the surface, throughout dreary, hope-less, and even, death filled days.
In John 2, we read the familiar story of the day that Jesus cleared the temple courts. He made a whip, he drove out the animals. Jesus scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned the tables. It must have been a chaotic scene to witness as Jesus made the point that the temple of God was not about making a profit! But, Jesus had a bigger point to make! It will only become fully known sometime later. The Master Teacher prepared the ground for a teaching moment.
The Jews challenged Jesus’ authority.
And … Jesus chose to plant … to scatter a few seeds.
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” John 2:19, 20
And so the seeds lay, dormant, until the sun broke and the tomb was empty and death was overcome! And then it happened … the disciples made THE connection. Just as the beautiful green of teeny-tiny lettuce blooms are peaking above the dull brown of my garden, the seeds Jesus planted bloomed in the disciple’s hearts.
Are you planting seeds in the garden that God has entrusted to you?
“After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” John 2:22
Shannon Rains Children and Family Minister Kingwood Church of Christ Humble, TX