God Farming!!

Bamboo is a rather peculiar plant. You plant it and care for it and in the first year it grows 0 inches. Yep...none. You continue to care for it daily and in the second year it grows 0 inches...yep. So...you continue to care for it daily and then sometime in the third year...BOOM!! 24 inches in a single day!!

One day I was taking Eli to school and we passed by this homeless man that lived down the street in the woods. This guys was always around and clearly had mental issues (loved to write in the dirt all day and get angry for some reason) and he was out sitting on this morning. Eli, who had seen the man 100 times before, asked me "Daddy...why does that guy live in the woods?"

I responded "Cause he is too lazy to get a job and enjoys living off other people's hard work."

Okay...Clearly not one of my finer "Father Of The Year" moments...but more importantly, this one instance set me back on my heels. We drove to school and talked, but I could not get my response out of my head.

You see...even though I've always been a rather selfish and arrogant person, I had always found it in my heart to help the less fortunate! But...this happened in a time in my life when I had lost every single moral I had ever had. Seriously...When I tell you that I would have stabbed your grandmother in the back for a ten dollar bill and the only concern I would have had was whether some blood stained my clothes...sadly I'm not lying...

But I did not realize it!!! I know that sounds crazy, but I really had not realized HOW much I had slipped until that morning when Eli asked me about the homeless guy!!!

Suddenly it all came rushing back to me like some flash back in a Guy Ritchie film...The people I had cheated...the laws I had broken...the people I had hurt (physically and financially)...for my own financial gain at first...and then later just because I could.

It all crept in so slowly...inch by inch consuming me!! To the point where I simply had zero regard for any human life outside of mine and my sons (not even family, friends, or spouses)!! WOW!!!

So I changed...sorta.

Yes...I wish I could say I got saved right then and there, but I didn't. At the time I didn't even consider God being a factor in my life. I simply knew that I had to be a better person...so I did...slowly...

But was God not a factor?? At the time I didn't even consider it, but looking back I have to say that He absolutely was!! I'm not talking about from a "God's Plan" aspect (though of course that was in effect), I'm talking more about God's teachings.

You see I was raised with some pretty positive Christian influence (which I rejected mostly). I was friends with pastors sons...great Christian families (who might not have liked me all the time, but loved me)...and my own Mother and Father's beliefs. So...I knew right from wrong and good from evil...I had just chosen to ignore it!!

However...all of this exposure made it easier for me to correct myself morally on this day!!

You see...all of these Christians had been planting seeds throughout my life. Sometimes it was obvious: "Gus you need God!"...and sometimes it was not so obvious to either side: Like all the times the Huff's had me over for dinner!! Looking back, these people kept planting and kept planting...and even though the ground was rough and they didn't see any results...they kept planting!!

In Matthew, Jesus is travelling through towns teaching and stopping to heal every sickness and disease. (Notice that it says EVERY sickness and disease!! WOW!!). While at one stop, the scripture says:

"Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." -Matthew 9:37

I think about this a lot today in my own Christian walk...Am I planting seeds everywhere I go?? By word of mouth...by example...by giving...by listening?? We are ALL called to be workers and to plant the seeds...REGARDLESS of the immediate growth we see!!

I have challenged myself to step out of the comfort zone and "Do Something!". I hope you will too...

PS - Yes...I corrected myself with Eli the next day. :)

Thanks for reading!! Remember that we are officially having Sinner's Church Discussion Group on Thursday nights in Tifton at 7pm!! Come as you are...only one rule: No Perfect People Allowed!! Contact me for more info if interested!!

Love your neighbor as yourself. Period!