As a young lad I had the special experience of following a horse drawn plough as the land was being carefully prepared for planting and cultivation. There is hardly a thing that is more pleasant to my mind than those memories of long ago. In my mind’s eye I can feel once more the pleasant coolness of the rich damp soil against my bare feet on a hot and humid afternoon. The earthy and pungent odour of new turned soil again fills the air around me. In the quietness of my memory I can still hear the sound of the breaking plough ripping its way through the fallow ground, leaving in its wake a squirming trail of worms, grubs and insects, and the occasional nest of field mice struggling for survival.
The sights and sounds of spring overwhelm me with a nostalgic yearning to set my hand firmly to the plough once more and yell out, “Giddap,” to the team for just one more turn around the field. But the memory of row upon row of shiny sod cleaved by the sharp plough also reminds me of sweating from sunrise to sunset under the glare of a blazing hot sun. I can also feel the pain of muscles strained wrestling with a heavy turning plough.
As the long afternoon of struggle wears on, I can feel once again a bone-weariness, giving way to an almost irresistible desire to lay aside my assigned task and make my way to the old swimming hole to frolic in its cold depths with the neighbourhood boys.
It was in such a rural setting that I learned my first lessons of discipline. The discipline imposed by my desire to hear my parents say, “Well done!” The discipline required if I were ever to know the self-satisfying sight of a field well ploughed, planted, cultivated and harvested. What a great blessing parents impart to their children when they give them such a gift of a disciplined work ethic!
Jesus implies discipleship may be viewed as an expression of such discipline in the spiritual realm. The need for a serious and disciplined attitude and approach to the work of God has never been more apparent. It seems increasingly difficult to find people of God who are willing to carry His work on to an ultimate productive and fruitful conclusion.
It seems many would much rather be frolicking with friends of the world in the cool pool of the pleasures of this world, than toiling as yoke fellows with Christ and fellow-labourers in the hot sun of the field of spiritual endeavour. There is no doubt about the nature of our field of spiritual labour . Jesus commanded us to pray that the Lord would send labourers into the field of lost souls.
We know what is involved in preparing the ground to plant the good seed. We know it is necessary to break up our fallow spiritual ground. We know a bit about the cultivation and watering often necessary to bring forth the harvest. We know we need to go forth with weeping, bearing the precious seed of the Word of God. We know the promise of the harvest to those who will really lift up their eyes to the possibilities involved in witnessing and soul winning.
We know the law of sowing and reaping applies to the spiritual as well as the physical world and that our Lord has promised that we will reap in due season, if we faint not. If we would be His disciple, we but need to keep on keeping on for the glory of God!
