The fundamentals of life are found on the farm. Afterall, that is where God started man… in the Garden of Eden. It was on the farm that God set life applications in place.

I grew up on a rice & soybean farm outside of Hamburg, Arkansas. Here are some of the applications I recognize.

1. I learned on my dad’s farm, the dirt (soil) could care less about what seed gets planted. It will work just as hard raising up weeds as it will rice or soybeans. 
2. We didn’t have to plant weeds. The weed seed was in the air, carried by the birds & left over from the last season. A farmer that ignores the weeds will go broke.
3. A good farmer knows & manages the condition of the soil. He carefully prepares the pH balance (the acid & alkaline levels) of each field of rice, soybeans, cotton, or corn to maximize the yield.
4. Germination (how the seed works) is a miracle. Take a dead seed, put it in the soil, warmed by the sun, with the right amount of moisture (rain), & nutrients in the soil, and a few days later life will bust through the ground. A new plant. 

This God-designed process is like our lives.

1. Our heart (soil) will grow what is planted. Weed seeds (negative & evil words & ideas) are everywhere. A good farmer cannot allow even a few weeds in his field. We sprayed, cut, and pulled weeds year-round on the farm. This is life, we must be constantly removing the sin from our life until our last breath.
2. Like the good farmer managing the pH balance of his field, we must check the pH balance of our heart. We can be too harsh (acidic, dogmatic) or too alkaline (soft, tolerant of anything) for the “Good Seed” we plant to work as designed. Remember, it’s always about the harvest, Always!
3. Just like the farmer who does not cause the seed to work, we (Believers) don’t save anyone. That is a God-Only-Thing. It’s the Miracle of the Good News, the Seed of Hope (Jesus) that was planted in the ground and three days later He arose. “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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10.

I remember the mornings…the excitement of the harvest as the combines, grain carts, fuel wagons and grain trucks rolled into the field. It was harvest time. It’s “All-hands-on-deck” event. This is why the farmer has worked so hard & risk everything… it’s for The Harvest!

When dad said it was time to go, that meant now. There is a narrow harvest window for rice. It’s when the moisture & the maturity peak. I believe this is what Jesus is telling His Followers in Matthew 9:37-38, “Then He (Jesus) said to His disciples (and His followers), “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” He is telling us the conditions are just right to maximize the rewards of the harvest. My friends have been called to the field for the Harvest. Jesus has told us repeatedly “I am coming soon.” Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 12, 20. Know for certain…He is coming! This is about where you will spend eternity! “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12