Planting Seeds

One time I went to the local music store to simply buy one music book or a piece of sheet music. When I was about to check out, the salesman asked me if he could show me a couple of used pianos he had in the back. Even though I was only there to buy some music, I loved the brand of piano he mentioned so I said, sure, I always love looking at pianos. So I went back and tried them out and he wasn't pushy or anything, just let me play the pianos. But just before I left the store, he said he wanted me to play this piano they had in the front, a brand new Petrof piano. I had never heard of the brand and so I said, sure -- I didn't see any harm in trying out a piano. But when I started playing that Petrof, it was like piano heaven to me. It felt so different from my own piano and it was so great, like walking on the clouds. I left the store, but for months afterward, I couldn't stop thinking about that Petrof. I tried telling myself that I didn't need it because I already had a piano, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it felt to play it. I started saving my money and a few months later, I went back to that store and bought the Petrof. That salesman had planted a seed in my mind that grew and grew over time. He didn't push it on me, he simply mentioned it and let me try it out. But he made a sale by planting that seed.

As Christians, we can and should plant seeds by telling people about Jesus. After some time, that seed might get watered and fertilized and then start growing into something beautiful. It's not our job to make it grow, because only God can do that. But our job is to plant, or maybe water and fertilize. My husband didn't grow up in a family that went to church. But when he was a teenager, a lady at his job asked him one day if he thought he would go to heaven if he died. He told her yes, he thought he would because he was a good person. This gave her the opening to explain to him that being a good person wouldn't get him into heaven and she was able to tell him about Jesus and share some Bible verses with him. The seed was planted. It made him start wondering what else the Bible had to say, so he started reading it and he started going to church. So the seed was then getting watered and fertilized. Through all this, he became a Christian. That sweet lady at his job took a few minutes out of her day to plant a seed that grew and resulted in my husband becoming a Christian. And because he started going to that particular church, he met me. It's so neat to look back and see how God works things out in our lives. I don't know about you, but I need to start planting some seeds!

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7