Yesterday my granddaughter Angie and I just had to start putting up Halloween decorations. We waited as long as we possibly could, but once Autumn began... we couldn't wait any longer. Angie is so excited now that her pumpkins are ready to pick, here is a photo of her first pumpkin and her first ear of corn too!
What a neat thing to teach kids, to plant and take care of something and watch it grow. Then after a lot of watering, watching and especially waiting, you are finally able to pick your harvest. There is a scripture in Proverbs that says...“As you sow so shall you reap”. That is true with many things in our lives, we can not expect to reap the benefits of something if we did not put the time and effort into it. Here is a cute story that goes along with this theme tonight. I hope you enjoy it! Night!
THE SEED OF HONESTY ~ Rutagengwa Claude Shema
A King was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his children, he invited a group of young people from his kingdom and told them, "It is soon time for me to step down and choose the next king. I have decided to choose one of you." The children were shocked, but the king continued, "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next king."
One of the boys, named Liang, went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot filled with soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Liang kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Liang didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Liang's pot. He knew his seed had died. Everyone else had trees or flowers, but he had nothing. Liang didn't say anything to his friends, he just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youth of the kingdom brought their plants to the king for inspection. Liang told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But his mother asked him to be honest about what happened. Liang felt very uncomfortable, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. He was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Liang put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other children laughed at him. When the king arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Liang tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the king. "Today one of you will be appointed the next king!" Suddenly the king spotted Liang at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Liang was terrified. He thought, "The king knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me punished!" When Liang got to the front, the king asked his name. "My name is Liang," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The king asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Liang, and then announced to the crowd, "The name of your new king is Liang!"
Liang couldn't believe it. He couldn't even grow his seed, how could he be the new King? Then the King said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. All of you, except Liang, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Liang was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new king!" If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
