January 20: How Your Garden Grows

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. - 2 Corinthians 9:6

In 2005 Scientists germinated a date palm seed that was recovered from Herod the Great's palace atop Masada in the Judean wilderness-making it around 2,000 years old. And a 1,300 -year-old lotus seed recovered from China was germinated in 1995. These remarkable examples of preservation, however, are more the exception than the rule. Seed companies today don't normally guarantee the viability of their seed for more than a few years.

Lots. of things determine the quality of a harvest: the quality of the seed, the number of seeds sown, the quality of the soil, and the amounts of moisture and nutrients provided. The same is true with a spiritual harvest. No farmer would sow haphazardly and expect a beautiful, bountiful harvest. Neither should we. As we sow seeds of good works, financial investments, prayers, studies, service, and worship, we must focus on the quality of our "seeds."

As stewards, we have been entrusted with seeds to sow. And as resow, so shall we reap.

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Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed. - Robert H. Schuller