JohnJFrady.com

I’ve learned lots of lessons.

Some of the best are:

1. Trust God in everything.
2. Don’t forget to pray.
3. Take good care of your health.
4. Family is very important
5. Avoid the yellow snow.

In a recent round table discussion, I said, “The most important lesson I’ve learned in the past year is everything impacts everything.”

“What does that mean?” asked one of my colleagues.

Now I’ve never been accused of being the quickest with verbal responses, so I said, “Well, it means that everything…impacts…everything else.”  Everyone was overwhelmed with my dramatic pauses and word addition.

But now I’ve had time to think about what I should have said.

It all begins with seeds.

The Apostle Paul wrote Do not be deceived:  God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)

From thefreedictionary.com, I gleaned that sowing means to scatter seed over the ground for growing.  The same source defines reaping as harvesting a crop.  So, Paul was basically saying that the seed you spread determines the type of crop that you harvest.

In other words, whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

In the movie Second Hand Lions, young Walter is sent to live with his eccentric uncles Garth and Hub.  Deciding to plant a garden, they purchase a variety of seeds from a travelling salesman.  After preparing the soil, they plant the seeds in rows and wait patiently for their crops to produce.

One day, as they are hoeing the weeds from their garden, Garth comments, “Think about how good all these vegetables are going to taste.  Peas, beans, squash, tomatoes…”

Even as his uncle is speaking, Walter notices that every plant on every row is almost identical.  When he points it out to his uncles, they are dumbfounded.

“Hey,” said Walter, pointing to the row of corn.  “This one looks right.”

“Well,” said Garth, “All those seeds did look alike, come to think of it.”

Hub throws his hoe and shakes his head.  “Corn, corn, corn,” he says, “Nothing but corn.”

Whatever one sows, that he will also reap.

The older I get, the more I realize that the same is true in every area of our lives.  What we sow determines what we reap:

–       In Finances

–       In Friendships

–       In Business Ventures

–       In our Spiritual Lives

–       In our Families

–       In our Work

–       In our Homes

–       In our Bodies

–       In our Minds

–       In Everything

Everything that we do matters.  Every decision we make, every day we work late, every book we read, every cookie we sneak, every movie we watch, every sit-up we avoid, every dollar we spend, every prayer we pray (or don’t pray), every thought we have – they’re all connected.

They join together to form an enormous tapestry that identifies us to the world and to ourselves.

What do you want your tapestry to portray?  What decisions are making that will change it’s look forever?  Are you weaving something into your tapestry that you don’t want to be there?

Here’s the deal:

Everything Matters.  Everything.

Whatever one sows, that he will also reap.

What are you going to do about it?