A few days after the field of soybeans was planted it rained. It rained so much it flooded the field. Thankfully, we had several days of warm sunshine and wind to dry out the field. I remember the afternoon I walked with dad over the field. It had spotty green patches because only about half of what had been planted had come up. As we walked along, he would stop and dig in the bare spots. The seed had drowned and there was no sign of life. One of the joys of farming is being part of new life. After dad was satisfied, he had seen enough he said, “never going to amount to anything!” “We still have time to replant.” For a farmer, this hurts. It’s the hard choice of knowing that the best you can expect is to harvest ½ a crop with the cost of cultivation and harvest you will not break even. Or the additional cost of plowing under what you have and replanting. It’s a choice.

This Law of the Farm, Replanting, is found in the Bible. “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5-8). God replanted!

This year in Bible Study Fellowship we will study God’s Redemptive Love, “Exile & Return.” It’s the Old Testament study of God’s people who had walked away from Him and lost it all. They were taken as prisoners to a foreign & evil land. After 70 years, just as God’s prophets had proclaimed, God poured out His Mercy & Grace. God returned His people to the Promise Land. From this we discover God’s heart for His people…His desire to have fellowship with His children. I believe this is the major theme of the Bible, God’s heart for His creation to desire a personal fellowship with Him. A relationship that has no space between Him & us. He wants us to go where He goes. To desire to be with Him.

Now ponder God’s Supreme act of love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (Johns 3:16,17)

Maybe you are like many of us who have walked or drifted away from Him and found yourself in exile, imprisoned with anxiety & hopelessness. Good News! Our Heavenly Father has provided the way Home to Him. Jesus told us in John 14: 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So, if you are walking through your field (life) and discover what you have planted is not coming up, maybe it’s time to replant. First, pray for God to melt your heart. Ask Him to “Transform” your “me-focused” life to one focused on Him. Pray for a heart of gratefulness. Pray for guidance for His Way.

Second, plant the “Good Seed” of His Word in your heart. Get into a Bible Study that is scripture focused. One that offers structure & discipline to support a daily habit of being in His Word. And third, cultivate your life in a healthy Bible church. A church focused of God’s Word and not man’s opinion.

The Law of the Farm. We are responsible for our own field. What will you harvest?