A Harvest of Righteousness and Praise

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up

 before all nations.

Isaiah 61:11

Working my way through my garden the other day, pruning, picking, reveling in the care God took to create such beauty—how blessed we are! How little I know about the growth process, except that it begins with a seed.  

It brings to mind my favorite verses about the sower and the seed:

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

 so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

 and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,

 so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,

 but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

 — Isaiah 55:9-11

It is God who has life, and this world, in His hands. What an earthy visual! His created rain and snow make my roses and azaleas bud and flourish to produce the seed to plant more of that beauty (or the wheat for my favorite bread). I make the leap to the planting of His Word to nourish our souls.

After all, that is what He wanted in Eden. That is what He designed for His people, Israel. And that is what prevails today—the truth of His Word.

The parable of the four soils is familiar to you—the path, the rocky, the thorny, the good. What is the soil of your soul like? Do you water the seeds of His Word with time, time spent in prayerful study? Do you share His truth with your family, your friends, your neighbors? Does righteousness bloom in your ways?   

That is His way of making righteousness and praise spring up for all to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”*

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.

*Westminster Shorter Catechism, #1