Beautiful colors, bountiful crops, and changing seasons!

Time to bring in the corn, pick the apples, cut the hay. It’s wonderful to see the bountiful fruits of our arduous labors over the last six months. It’s warming to take a deep breath and inhale the scents of the season – crisp apples (obviously with ample amounts of donuts and hot cider), pumpkin pie, fresh corn on the cob.

But wise people know that this is also planting time. Trees drop their seeds and nuts for new growth next spring. Landscapers recommend planting trees and bushes now instead of the spring. And most smart homeowners will plant or over-seed their lawns now in preparation for next year.

Have you ever thought about generosity as a seed? It’s impossible to understand the concept if we believe that everything we have is ours because we earned it. Trying to convince ourselves that our treasure, our time, our talents, or our touch are due to our hard work and accomplishment only heads us down the wrong road. If we stubbornly put “us” in the equation at all, we’re sadly mistaken because it just doesn’t work.

God is the source of every seed and every good gift. It is He who infuses us with wisdom, adorns us with talents and amply provides us with resources and opportunities. So why do we find it so hard to give Him the credit? How can it be so difficult to acknowledge that He is both the seed and the Sower? Is it above our ego to admit that these gifts are given to us so that we can play a part in His plan? Or is it because, if we acknowledge that He is the source of everything that we have and everything we are given, then it’s to Him that we owe everything; nothing is ours, but by His goodness? As Shakespeare said “Aye, now there’s the rub!”

We are called to be generous because He was (and continues to be) generous to us. We are called to love because He first loved us and sent us His Son. We are called to be an active part of His plan because, upon giving us life, He made us a part of that plan.

With our time, we are called to teach a child, or join a mission team, or simply hold the hand of one of our saints on earth.

With our talents, we are called to contribute to the planning and building of His Kingdom. With our treasure, we are called to support those who cannot support themselves and plant new seeds for the seasons to come. And with our touch, we are called to share His love and care with those in need and those who hurt!

Remember, Jesus said that “if we are trustworthy in small things, then we will be trustworthy in large things.” Just imagine what our seeds today will bring to harvest in years to come! Be generous! Sow abundantly!

Think about it!