Summer and Winter and Spring-time and Harvest
“And He (Jesus) was saying, ‘The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed (the Word of God) upon the soil…the soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then mature grain in the head.”
Mark 4:26, 28
“Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”
Hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923.
When I was a little kid, I was visiting with my Mamaw Mabrey one snowy morning in Alabama. That day, God had provided a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground. I believe we had just finished breakfast, when I saw my grandmother slip on an old overcoat, put a scarf over her head, and put on rubber boots. Then she went over to the stove and placed an old left-over piece of good-ol’ fashioned cornbread into her hand and slipped out the kitchen door. Wondering what she was up to, I climbed upon the kitchen counter so I could look out the window over the sink into the back yard, and guess what I saw? My mamaw began to break off pieces of cornbread and throw them onto the ground. After she had done this, she walked back towards the house, but my eyes were fixed on the cornbread. And what do you think I say in just a couple of minutes? Yes! Birds began to descend upon the snow to eat their morning breakfast!
The prophet Isaiah tells that God’s word never returns to Him void, but accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it out just as sure as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout… (See Isaiah 55:10-11). I know deep within my heart that God used this humble and loving act of my grandmothers to care for the birds and to teach her little grandson that God would always take care of him! And He has! She prayed that I would not only come to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but that I would grow and mature in my faith to the glory of God. Praise God for His harvest! Happy Thanksgiving!
Pastor Louie