Spiritual Lessons from Working on a Farm (part 1 of 3)

Over the past five months, I have had the privilege of working four hours a week at a local, organic elderberry and blueberry farm. I wanted to do this for two reasons. First, through our homeschool connection, the owner expressed to me that he could use the help. Secondly, because the Bible are filled with agricultural imagery, I wanted to connect with that imagery by experiencing farming myself. So, what have I learned about the farming imagery in the Bible in relation to the spiritual life so far? Here are two of six total lessons I want to share with you.

Lesson from the farm: the farmer works diligently, but God provides the crop.

I’ve learned how God has ordained farming as the way He provides for the human race. The farmer and God work together to accomplish a fruitful crop for the good of people and families. Of course, God is in charge of the seasons, the rain, the sun and the genetic design of how plants grow and produce fruit. A blueberry bush will never be fruitful only due to the farmer’s labor. A farmer is completely dependent on God for the ultimate fruitfulness of his crop. However, God has designed it that the farmer is to do the hard work of tending to the seeds, the soil and the plants from season to season so that they will produce a good crop. Verses: Gen. 1:1, 28-29, Psalm 104:14, 2 Cor. 9:10.

The spiritual life parallel: The Christian exercises spiritual discipline but God brings spiritual growth.

God is the one who saves and matures a Christian. However, God has designed it that the Christian has a responsibility to pursue spiritual growth in ways God has provided for him. As both enter into this partnership together, the person grows mature and bears good fruit like a berry crop. Verses: Phil. 2:12-13, Heb. 12:11, 1 Tim. 4:7-8. Lesson from the farm: weeds love to hinder a plants growth and must be constantly attended to. So far my main job at the farm has been that of weed controller. From hand picking to pruning to using a gas weed eater, I am regularly having to tend to these ravenous weeds, thistles and vines. Weeds are moochers. They love to use the soil, water, sun, and natural fertilizers intended for the good berry bush to benefit themselves. They also get entangled in the healthy plants root system and branches effecting the speed of the plants growth as well as the quality of fruit. It takes work to eliminate weeds, thistles and vines, but they just want to keep coming back. Weed control becomes a regular part of farming life it seems. Verses: Gen. 3:17-19, Rom. 8:20-22, Rev. 22:1-3

The spiritual life parallel: sin is a lot like weeds and needs constant attending to in the Christian life.

The Bible tells us that our salvation relieves us of the penalty of sin. The Bible also tells us that as we grow in our Christian life we are more and more relieved of the domination of sin in our lives. However, the Bible never says the Christian will never sin again – at least this side of heaven. Like my job at the farm, it is the Christians responsibility to be aware of the ongoing presence of sin in our lives and to tend to it – to kill it, to control it. Sin is also a moocher. It distracts our energy and attention away from God and the good things He wants for us. Like the ongoing frustration of weed control on the farm, the ongoing frustration of sin-control is a regular part of the Christian life too. Verses: Prov. 24:30-34, 1 Tim. 6:12, Heb. 12:1-3. [I have not included Jesus’ parable of the weeds in Matthew 13 here because it addresses non-believers not believers]

Next month, in part two of three, I will share two more lessons I have learned so far.