Irrelevant? Lessons for Today

The Bible talks a lot about a lot of things that just don't seem all that pertinent today.  For instance, I don't really need to know about a dove or a goat offering.  We don't celebrate the year of Jubilee any more.  And since I don't live out in the country, all that talk about harvesting and leaving grain in the corner of my fields is really irrelevant.

Or is it?

Actually, it all matters.  Or at least I'm convinced that it does.  Knowing about the sacrifices makes it that much more precious that my price has been paid and I do not need to jump through hoops to stand before Beloved.  And while my physical debts are not forgiven during a certain year declared to be Jubilee, I walk in a liberty that allows me to experience an unfettered life because Jesus is my Jubilee.  And the harvest?  Well, so much of my life lately has been relevant to those teachings.

Over the last two years, God has been teaching me about sowing into my husband and sowing into our children.  He has taught me about sowing into His kingdom.  He has also taught me some very basic principles regarding wheat.

1. You only reap wheat when you plant wheat.  If you plant something else, you get a different crop entirely.  So you'd better sow intentionally.
2. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot produce anything else.  Death is a requirement to abundant life.  (I'm still working on this one)  You've got to die so that God can multiply your life and use it to nourish the nations.
3. The Boaz principle: Never reap so tightly that you forget to leave the corners of your fields dusted with wheat for those less fortunate.  Have a "corner fund" at the ready -- you never know when God will call you to nourish others (and I don't mean your tithe -- this is extra, this is intentional, this is more - it is physical, financial, emotional).
4. Farmers are never off duty.  Even when the fields look barren, there is work to be done.  You must plant, water, watch, harvest, process, and then start all over again.  It is never ending and you must approach it tirelessly.  The same is true for the wife and mother.  There are seasons, and not all of them are pleasant.  But we aren't sowing for the moment; we are working with an eye on an eternal harvest.

Look to the fields ... they will one day be ripe for harvest - so sow into them wisely, my friends!

Linking up with Far Above Rubies, Titus2{sday} and Tuesday Confessional