Farming Words to Live By (Part 1)

As most of you know I help my dad run a small family-owned beef cattle farm in Sawmills.  Once I received an email from one of my uncles who in the past has helped us farm.  The email was titled “Farming Words of Wisdom to Live By.”  As I read the email I found in it several phrases that when looked at from the perspective of a farmer they make complete sense.  But as I read the email I could not help but look at these phrases in a spiritual light and see several spiritual truths.  So today I want to pass along to you a few of these words of wisdom so that we can all apply them to our spiritual lives and draw closer to God.

1. “A bumblebee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor” 

When riding a tractor you are at the mercy of the elements around you.  Whether it’s rain, mud, birds, dust, or bees you are at their mercy because of the slow pace of a tractor.  Tractors are slow and steady but get the job done.  In our spiritual life we need to see ourselves as tractors.  We are exposed to everything around us but we cannot allow that to deter us from our goal.  

With Satan being around for thousands of years he knows every trick in the book and wants to throw those distractions at us to pull us away from God.  Sometimes his tricks could be as simple as a speck of dust or as contrary as a persistent bee.  Whatever his method we cannot allow the things of this world to be a distraction from our focus on God and His kingdom’s work.  Like it says in Colossians 3:2, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (NIV).

2.  “Meanness don’t just happen overnight”

We all know people in our life that no matter what the circumstances are they will be unhappy about it and let everyone know about it.  When you dwell on the negative, day in and day out, year after year then guess what?  You guessed it, you are going to be a negative person.  I’m not saying bad things do not happen but God has given us hope.  I dare say that it’s impossible for a true Christian to be a negative person all the time.  God gave us a reason to rejoice, a reason to be joyful in the fact that He allowed His Son to die on the cross for us.  We have the hope of glory, the love of the Father, and the peace of eternity.  So what is there to be negative about?  Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4 that we should "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (NIV).

I hope today's post has encouraged you to keep your eyes on God and rejoice rather than complain.  Friday I will share two more phrases of "Farming Words to Live By."

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