Thursday January 20

"Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper will be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

John 4:35-38

This morning, I spent some time thinking over the sowers in my life. I thought about my parents, all the sacrifices they made, all the countless ways they poured love into me. I thought about my teachers, those I loved, those I hated - they all worked so hard to make me a better person. I thought about the mentors I have been blessed with over the years. I thought about the books that have meant so much to me. I thought about movie and television characters that have molded my personality. I thought about friends. Then, I started thinking about all the folks who sowed into all these people. And all the folks who sowed into the sowers. And right on down the line until I eventually got to Jesus...the Great Sower. I thanked him for him. I also thanked him for the sowers. I realized everything I "reap" in life is really just the fruit of what they have sown. I prayed for harvest. I prayed it for all of them. And I prayed that I would be a good sower to my children, my wife, my friends, my friends and acquaintances, my city, my country, my world. It was pretty cool.