Growing up on the farm meant getting started early and working late. Usually, it began as the sun was coming up and working until the sun went down. But on this day…it went past “dark-30”. Planting & harvest have windows of time when they must be done. If a farmer misses the planting days, there will be no crop to harvest. This was the situation at the end of the day when I asked my dad about going home to eat supper. He responded with the question, “Do The Light’s On Your Tractor Work?” I knew it was serious. I didn’t ask “why” as I knew my dad…and it was all business when it came to planting the crop.

In the last post, Part 1 of 2 of “Do The Lights On Your Tractor Work?”, the first two “Take Aways” were:

1. Life is more than about me. And 2. Dad knew more than me. Here are 3 & 4 of the Life “Take Aways” from this Lesson From The Farm.

3. He provided everything I needed to do my job. Yes, the lights worked, and we had all the equipment, fuel, seed, and fertilizer to do our job that night. He also sent one of the men to the little store for our supper of cold drinks, crackers, cheese, and cans Vienna sausage & sardines while driving our tractors. By 1:30 a.m. the 500 acres of soybeans were in the ground.

4. Keep the Main Thing, The Main Thing! This is one of the most significant lessons I have learned from growing up on the farm. Don’t be distracted from the Main Thing. A farmer must find a way to get the crop planted, watered, protected from weeds & pests, keep the equipment rolling because it is all about the harvest. A farmer uses whatever he has and sometimes it’s baling wire to hold something together to finish a job. It is the “No-Matter-What” Principle. The harvest has no consideration for feelings, inconveniences, hardships, or problems. It’s the cold, hard reality, we will reap what we sow.

I find so many Biblical Truths on the Farm. There is a reason. In Genesis 2:7-8, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.” Only God has this authority because He created it all.

3. Sometimes we “think” we do not have what is required to do His Work. We self-talk, “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t have time or the skills.” But at the core of our excuses usually lays the issue of Trust. When we trust & obey, He provides everything we need for His unique way. Jesus said in John 14:16, “… And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” Jesus said in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” “Blessings Follow Obedience.” God equips the called.

4. Keep the Main Thing, The Main Thing. It’s all about The Harvest! From John 4:34-36, “Jesus said to them, Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are ripe for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.” As we study this year, we see the world’s culture moving closer to the end described in Revelation. The harvest, the Judgment is certain. As Believers we have a job, sow the seeds of the Good News of Jesus. Because we learn from Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” And like the harvest we find in Revelation 20:15, “Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Good News, it’s not too late. The thief on the cross is proof of the Power & Authority of Jesus. Moments away from the lake of fire, the thief chose Jesus. Luke 23:42-43, “Then he (the thief on the cross) said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Maybe that’s you. You may think you have run out of options. Call out His Name, “Jesus.” Because “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9