Keep at it!

Keep at it!

James 5:7-8 NIV

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

There's a disease going on around now, and it is called the NOW syndrome. We want to be very successful NOW; we all want to be prosperous NOW; we want everything NOW. We now find suddenly successful people who have not matured enough to handle the obvious pressures that money, success, fame, position or power bring. We find people who are distracted by these things, seeking to get a part of the wealth and success and doing anything imaginable, sometimes abominable, such as offering bodies that do not belong to them in the first place. No wonder our world is currently directionless, and in the grip of a grab-it-now culture; a culture that celebrates acquiring things without really asking how these things are obtained. Today's extract seeks to get our minds in the right direction. 

The seed is one of the most mysterious of God's creation. It is small, and some are almost insignificant and minute, yet it is the start of a process, a procedure and the beginning of a miracle. No one can trace the origin of the seed, but all plants and trees can all be traced to a seed. The farmer takes this small seed and after carefully ploughing the ground and making it fit to receive, puts the seed in the ground. He nurtures the seed and the environment around the seed, ensuring that the seed has everything it needs to grow well. It is not a short process, but it is a lesson in preparation, patience and consistency. You never lose attention; the weeds do not sleep and the farmer cannot sleep either. That is the lesson we can adapt to our walk as Christians. We are like seed that the Lord has planted in our world. He has given us everything we need to grow and to nurture the world we have been put in. 

The process is not short; it takes time and as we cooperate with God, He takes us to the place He has prepared for us. We must trust His nurturing, preparation and planning because ultimately, it is His seed, not ours. As we run this race therefore, let us remember our origins and our purpose. We do not own ourselves, we are God's. The purpose is not ours to determine, it is God's. We were not put here to pursue our own good, but to pursue God's purpose, and only as we do this do we manifest the glory of God and bring the joy of harvest to His heart. He is coming soon, and his reward is not for wealthy or connected people, it is for as many as have found His purpose for their lives and are actively pursuing it, no matter the standard the world judges them by: rich or poor. Find your purpose and pursue it. God's time of favour is here.