Jesus told a parable about a farmer who scattered seeds and what happened when it fell on different sorts of soil (you can read it here). I have written a sequel. I hope he doesn’t mind.

A farmer went to sow some seeds in his field. He remembered that last year when he had scattered the seeds some had fallen on the path and the birds had eaten them. Some seeds had landed on rocky places where the soil was shallow and while the plants had sprouted they withered in the heat of the day because there was no moisture. Still more seeds fell among thorns which choked the wheat as it grew. But some fell on good soil and produced a wonderful yield of crops.

This year he had worked really hard. He wasn’t going to scatter any seeds onto the path for the birds, he was going to be careful at the edges. He had spent ages on his own clearing away all of the rocks and stones from the ground. It was back-breaking work which had taken him weeks to do, but he had achieved it. And then he had spent weeks clearing away all of the weeds and thorns on his own. That was hard work too, and he had the cuts on his hands to prove it. Finally he had ploughed his field to make it ready for the seeds to be sown. He was proud of all his hard work.

Today he was ready. He went out to his field. He looked at the results of all his hard work and planning. He was very pleased with himself. He reached into his bag of seeds, ready to start sowing.

Then he stopped.

His heart sank.

He couldn’t believe it.

With all of his busyness he had forgotten to get any seeds.

How often do Christians do we ‘labour in vain’ – doing lots of good work in our own strength and forgetting the most important thing – that we need God?

And how often do we do things on our own without considering whether there are other people who could help us in the hard work if only we asked?

Be blessed, be a blessing