Story:
Bradley, a farmer, and Broderick, a banker, were best friends.
After the annual autumn harvest, Bradley visited Broderick at the bank to deposit the money he had earned from the sale of his crops. Bradley deposited $50,000 into his checking account.
"I see that you had a successful growing season," Broderick told his friend.
"Yes, the Lord was certainly good to me this year!," Bradley beamed. "I had the right combination of rain, sunshine and hard work. Plus, before I planted my crops, I planted another kind of seed."
"What kind of seed was that,?" asked Broderick.
"I set a goal of the amount of money I wanted to sell my harvest for," Bradley smiled. "And I utilized plenty of daily declarations of faith during the process."
"You know, it's amazing how this crop growing process works,' Broderick said. "You plant the seed in the earth and, after a few months, you reap hundreds or thousands of times more than you sow."
"It seems like a miracle to me, too," Bradley grinned. "But although I'm thrilled with the concept of reaping more than I sow, I'm also keenly aware of the weed pulling that makes up a major part of the process. On some days, it seems like I do more of the work than God does. I think weed killing is one of the parts of the job I enjoy the most.
"God expects you to do your part in the partnership," said Broderick. "And if you know what I mean, God knows that in order for our lives to be productive and fruitful, the weeds of sin must be pulled from our lives each day."
"I know exactly what you mean, Old Friend," said Bradley "I've been farming for almost 40 years, and it only took me a couple of years to learn that valuable lesson, both in the field and in my life.
"Something else that's interesting to me that the law of sowing and reaping will apply equally to any crop I plant. One little seed of corn becomes many ears of corn on the cob for my family to eat. The key is to always sow the right kinds of seeds."
"I've made an observation about this seed sowing principle, too," said Broderick. "Everything we say, and everything we do is a seed we sow into the lives of others. And whatever we sow, good or bad, will result in a gigantic harvest in our own lives, as well as the lives into which these seeds are sown."
"And these kinds of seeds are always in season," chuckled Bradley.
