Agriculture

Sowing and Reaping

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“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12 (KJB)

Well I am back. I never really went anywhere; just felt I needed to take a break from this blog, and focus on some other things.

The following is from a former post back in May of 2013.  It is just a portion of that dealing with verse 12 of Hosea 10.

“The “Fallow ground” of verse twelve is land that had previously been plowed, but now left unused.  God’s Word and His Spirit is the plow that is needed to break up the soil of a hard heart (See Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23).  Hard hearts cannot yield crops of righteousness and mercy.

It is a prominent theme in Hosea that the children of Israel will reap exactly what they have sown.  It is a law of God’s created order to reap what we have sown – and that, no matter the timeline, culture or society which we may live.

Hosea gives us three steps to heal the land:

  1. Break up your fallow ground (v. 12);
  2. Put God’s Word in your heart – “sow with a view of righteousness” (NAS v. 12);
  3. “Reap in accordance with kindness (NAS) referring to the breaking of their hard hearts through repentance and sowing the seed of God’s Word in their lives.

God gives Israel every opportunity to repent.  It is God’s desire then to cleanse them, and make them a vessel of His grace.  Judgment would come.”  From BROKEN PIECES of May 04, 2013

There is a very relevant need for Christians of 2019 to realize the seeds we are sowing.  We are in the time of year where in the agricultural world there is harvesting going on.  That does not happen by accident. The farmers sow seeds to bring in a harvest, and when God blesses with good soil conditions, and rainfall these men and women have a great harvest when the time of harvest comes.

They sow seeds of what they desire to harvest. They desire to reap a harvest like the seed they have sown; and they will not reap any other type seed.

There is a real life lesson for us in this and it is found in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Church of Galatia…

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7-8

The only fruit worth the harvest is the fruit we bear because of Jesus Christ through His death, burial, and bodily resurrection. We can only do that through faith in Him; faith that works; not for salvation, but because of salvation by grace.

Right and Just Business Practices

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Balances, Integrity and Righteousness – Proverbs 11:1-6

1.  Balances were a means of conducting much agricultural, metals, and other forms of business in days of the past.  Notice that the “False balance” is an “Abomination to the LORD” – something that is disgusting, and wicked in the sight of the LORD.

This proverb (v. 1) can be tied with the command to “Love our neighbor” (Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31) as ourselves; and the final six of the Ten Commandments.  The Lord delights in a just weight or right balances.

2.  Pride, arrogance, insolence, presumptuousness are words very similar in meaning.  Most people hate arrogance when it is seen in someone else.  The Mirriam/Webster Dictionary defines “arrogant” as being “Offensives exaggerating one’s own importance”;  “insolent” is defined as “contemptuous, rude, disrespectful, or brutal in behavior or language: OVERBEARING, BOLD”; “presumptuous” means “overstepping due bounds; taking liberties: OVERBOLD.”  With this “Pride” comes shame following closely on the heels – see Proverbs 16:18.

In contrast is the “lowly” or the modest individual.  These are usually the thankful person.  The individual who knows they are not alone and trust the Lord for their every need.

3.  “Integrity” equals “Soundness:  adherence to a code of values: utter sincerity, honesty, and candor: completeness.”  These, of course, would be guided by the teachings of God’s word and the Holy Spirit in the Christian.

In this verse as well as verses 2, and 4 through 6 there are contrasting statements:  “The integrity of the upright” and “The perverseness of transgressors”;  Riches and righteousness;  “The righteousness of the perfect… but the wicked shall fall…”

There is destruction awaiting those connected to unrighteousness.

There is deliverance for the righteous; but “transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.”  (Jeremiah 2:19)

-Tim A. Blankenship

What Manner Of Man – Communicator

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“And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.  And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,  Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:  And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:  But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.  And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.  And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”  Mark 4:1-12 (KJV)

Someone defined a parable as “An earthly story with a heavenly meaning”, and I think that is a good definition if I do say so.  They may or may not be fictional to point out a truth.  Jesus used many of them to make points, and even to conceal the truth from some.

From what I have seen I know people like a good story.  That is why novels sell so well.  The Christian novel market is booming.  Christian fiction is one of the hottest selling items going.  When Frank E. Perretti wrote “This Present Darkness” and “Piercing The Darkness” it started the boom in Christian fiction novels.  Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins co-authored the “Left Behind” series and it was and is a wonderful story of the last days.  Many years ago a man in Southwest Missouri wrote “The Shepherd of the Hills” and it is a wonderful story.  Harold Bell Wright wrote the story for his church and that book has become more popular in recent years.

When I was in school I would be assigned a novel to read and all I would do is scan it.  I would read the first page of a chapter, a middle page and the final page of a chapter and then I would write a composition on it.  It is no wonder my grades were no better than they were.  Until I decided to read “This Present Darkness” I did not know what I had been missing.  Now I will read at least one novel per year and sometimes even more.

The greatest story ever told, though, is the story of God, His creation, man and his fall away from God, God’s pursuit of fallen man through the death burial and resurrection of His Son, and bringing it all to a conclusion in that great day when we will all be forgiven, cleansed, and in the presence of Jesus for all eternity.   That story tells us of the wickedness of fallen mankind, and the wonderful grace of Almighty God who created all that is.

Jesus tells the story of the soils and the seeds.  For the people to whom He was speaking agricultural language, because that is the language they would understand.   It is probably best called the “Parable of the Sower”.  He was faithful in sowing the seed and leaves the results to God.

There are four types of soil represented here.  In the first place some seed fell by the “wayside” onto hard ground, and the birds came and ate it up.  The second type of soil was “stony ground” which had shallow soil and no way for the crop to take root.  The third place where the seed fell was on “thorny soil”, and when the seed came up from the ground it was choked out by the thorns.  It received no light from the sun, therefore could not grow as it ought.  The fourth and final type of soil was good.  The seed fell upon the good soil and brought forth an abundant crop.

Jesus uses parables to teach those who really want to know Him.  If they are not interested in Him they will not understand the parables.  “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” is the statement of such.  Those who love Jesus or who are wanting to really know Him will listen, hear and obey what He has to say.

The parables Jesus told us many years ago are still applicable to the day we live and everyday in the lives of those who are willing to hear them and obey.

This same Jesus died on the cross for you, was buried carrying away all the sins of the world and the weight of guilt, and its condemnation, then rose from death’s grave overcoming the power of sin, death, and hell.  Call on His name today.  Trust His work He did for you.

-Tim A. Blankenship

The Value of a Farmer

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There are people living in the large cities, even adult people, who have no idea where their food, milk, ice -cream treats, vegetables, and meat come from. At least that is the way many people act. “You go to the grocery store, WalMarts, Kroger, Ramey, Giant Foods, Piggly Wiggly, or whatever and you get what you want.”

While you can go to the grocery store, which is Oh, so convenient; there are farmers “breaking their backs”, and in many cases risking their lives in order that you might have food on your table, or in front of your television. Even many of the snacks that we eat today is food that has been prepared from crops, for you to have a ready to eat snack. Doritos, Potato chips, snack cakes – being made from flour, which requires wheat, and then there is the sugar in the cookies which is from farms as well. The Sugar farmer may prefer to call his place a Sugar Plantation, but it is none-the-less still a farm.

Many of the big farms may produce much milk, grain, and fruits and vegetables, and they make a good deal of money. Don’t dare think that farming is a lucrative business. Let me give you and idea of the money that is made in farming. A farmer may bring in a cash value of 200,000 dollars per year, but by the time they pay for the fuel of the tractor, farm labor costs, feed for the cattle, fuel for their other farm vehicles; the maintenance and upkeep of all farm machinery, etc.. After all the expenses and farm costs are paid the small farmer; if he is blessed; may have 20,000 dollars per year. And that would be a fairly good year.

After they have made that kind of profit [wow!!!:)], can you believe that, then the government wants to tax more than what they actually have in spendable income?

When farmers have a bad year with a drought all our government wants to offer them is a low interest loan. When farmers in the country of Columbia want to make a deal with the United States that’s a different situation. Our farmers can just suffer, but we can’t let foreigners farming suffer. We will take their meat, their crops, and pay them a great price for it; and at the expense of our own people.

I have heard in Hollywood productions and from people who don’t know much that the oldest profession in the world is prostitution. Well that is not true. The oldest and grandest profession and vocation is farming. There were farmers long before any woman or man ever thought of selling themselves for cash.

What makes a man or a woman want to be a farmer? Some grow up on the farm and don’t know much of anything else. They decide at an early age they want to take over the family farm, or have a farm of their own. There are some who grow up and go to Agricultural Schools/Colleges/Universities to learn more about farming, the soils, trees, and vegetables. They may come back to the farm to help make it more productive, and they may not. The outdoors, fresh air, fresh turned soil, and its fragrance, sunrises and sunsets, are all things that farmers enjoy. Not to mention the planting of the seed in that freshly worked soil, watching it come up through that dirt day later, then, weeks and months later it reaches its peak, and it bears fruit. From one little seed of grain comes thousands of seeds of grain. The farmer can look at that and thank the Lord for giving the increase, and thank Him also for giving him the strength to plant and harvest the crop. Farming is one vocation that gives a person a sense of worth, and accomplishment.

The next time you go through that grocery aisle, and you pick up a head of cabbage, or broccoli, or some Apples, Peaches, Oranges, or a can or frozen bag of peas; and a gallon of milk remember there were some farmers who rose early many mornings to get that milk and cheese to you; spent many hours plowing the ground preparing it for the seeds that produced that cabbage, broccoli and other veggies. Many Orchards spend hours protecting their trees from freezing in the seasons of their blooming in order that we might have fresh fruits. When you pick them up remember where it came from. It first of all came from God who gives the increase; and it came from hard working farmers who have given their lives to feed the American citizens and the world.

-Tim A. Blankenship