Keep Doing Good!

I come from a family of farmers. I married into a family of farmers. I live, I guess, on what one would call “a farm,” and our home is surrounded by farmland. With much family history of farming and where we live, one would think I know a lot about farming. Well, I don’t. I know enough to get me by, and that’s about it.

I enjoy watching our family members farm. My brother, Steve, who lives around the corner from us is a grain farmer. (I think that’s the right term–a farmer without animals.) One Saturday afternoon last October, I spent a couple hours with Steve as he harvested the last of his seed corn crop. It was a beautiful, sunny day…perfect for harvesting!

I climbed into the cab of his combine, sat next to him on a comfortable cushioned seat, he put it into gear, and forward we went into the rows of corn.

Even though I don’t know much about farming, riding in a combine is one of my favorite things in fall to do. The humming of it’s engine. The smell and sight of corn dust. (I’m probably the only one on earth who likes the smell of corn dust.) Watching the corn stalks being cut and pulled down, the ears disappearing in the machine below us, and the kernels filling the bin behind the combine’s cab. I love it all.

We were harvesting! Actually, Steve was the one harvesting. There’s a lot to keep track of driving one of those big machines! I was the one asking questions and talking the entire time. Come to think of it now, I probably distracted Steve. Good thing he didn’t have a lot left to do! (Smile.) We talked about our children, our lives, his new home, our futures. I enjoyed this precious time with my brother.

This wonderful memory filled my mind this morning when I came across this passage of scripture: Galatians 6:9-10

“May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family.”

Are you needing some “keep doing good and right” encouragement today?

Maybe you are getting tired of doing what is right. Could it be you are getting weary of doing good?

Today, I’d say I’m a little on the weary side.

God is prodding us on to NOT tire of doing the right thing. Even when it’s hard, even when you don’t see anything happening. Even when no one (but God) would know any different. When it would be easier to cut corners, and easier to take the not-so-good path.

I imagine as Steve got his ground ready, planted the seed, prayed for timely rain–but for not too much at one time, weathered through the summer’s drought, waited for the corn to mature, and all the other things a farmer does before harvest, that he became tired. But he did what was good and right, anyway. He seized every opportunity when the ground was ready, and the weather was nice to do what he could to make it a good crop. Now I can’t remember what the yield was that day, but it was evident to me his hard work paid off and his crop was a blessing.

And we can stand on God’s promise: “…in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist.”

Friends, may I encourage you today to keep doing what’s good and right?! Persist. Keep pressing on. Keep your eyes open to the opportunities the Lord gives you to do good things and to bless others. Seize every one of them. Don’t give up now. Harvest is just around the corner!

And oh, what a great harvest it will be!