October 12, 2018; Sowing Broccoli

Sowing broccoli

A farmer went out to sow his seed… (Luke 8:5 NIV)

When my daughter, Esther, was a year old, we were living in Vancouver. She would sit in her high chair by the dining table. She was starting to eat solid food. To my amazement, she took to steamed broccoli. That was the only vegetable she would eat. I remember putting the broccoli on a plate or leaving them on tray. She would ask for more. I thought it was a miracle; a young child liking broccoli more than pies or cereal.

Then as she grew older, she somehow lost her liking for broccoli. Actually, she lost her liking for all forms of vegetables, let alone broccoli. Luke had the same problem too. I began to wonder if both Esther and Luke would ever eat any form of vegetable. Then it happened in her final years of high school. Suddenly Esther began eating broccoli again and liking it. I realised the fondness for broccoli was sowed in her first years. Then it took a break from age 5-15. It then returned to her and now at university she is quite a green person, especially broccoli.

I wonder if it was the same with reading the Bible or sowing the seed of Bible truths. The only difference is that Esther never took a break from reading the Bible. In her youth, she got involved in the church Bible quizzing team. That experience deepened her knowledge of the Bible and extended her social circles to the extent that her quizzing friends from all over Southern Ontario are still her best friends.

Whether broccoli or Bible reading, there is an application to Esther’s experience with broccoli. Whatever we do in reading the Bible, whether personal reading or small group Bible study, like Jesus, we sow seed (Luke 8:5). We might forget about the broccoli we consumed as a one-year old child, but sooner or later, the seed bears fruit, and we return to eating broccoli again and experiencing Biblical truth again that we read many, many years ago.

Pastor Pye