The Farmer and His Son

       One of my favorite stories I have heard is that of a farmer and his son.  They owned many acres for crops and some cattle.  The farmer told his son that in order to plant the crops in a straight line he should fix his eyes on something at the far end of the field.  After watching his son start out to plant, the farmer left to plant another field.

       When the farmer came back for lunch he noticed the crops had not been planted in straight lines, but they were all over the place.  He asked his son why the lines were not straight and the son replied, “I don’t know Dad, I did exactly what you said; I fixed my eyes on something at the end of the field and followed in that direction.”  Not understanding what went wrong, the farmer questioned, “Well, what was it you chose to fix your eyes on Son?”  To which the son said, “The cow at the far end of the field!”

 

       Obviously if you were planting a field and fixed your eyes on a movable object, then it follows that your trajectory might move along with it.  So, big deal, who cares if the crops are crooked or not?  Well, (before no till days) if your crops weren’t straight, there would be a lot of wasted land plus it made it harder to work the land to keep the weeds down and help the soil absorb water thereby growing better.  Basically crooked lines meant reduced crops which meant less food or income. 

       We should learn from this farmer and his son.  If we keep our eyes fixed on a movable target then our lives will become messy and will not produce as much as they should.  Money comes and goes, glory fades, power corrupts, people change, morals degrade, success never satisfies, and pleasures are fleeting.  Only one person remains stable and strong.  He is our Lord, our Rock, and our High Tower*.  We need to keep our eyes on Him,** for He is the same yesterday, today and forever, (Heb. 13:8) and only He is reliable to fix our eyes upon.

 

       And remember what happened to Peter when he took his eyes off of Jesus (Mt. 14:22-33).  It was a windy, wavy evening and Jesus walked on the water to the boat.  Peter wanted proof it was Jesus so he asked the Lord to tell him to come, which the Lord did.  Peter walked toward Jesus but then took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the wind and waves, became afraid and began to sink.  He cried out for Jesus to save him; Jesus did but then He said this, "Little-faith! Why did you doubt?" (v.31)  That tells me Peter's problem was trusting in Jesus, and doubting His ability to help or save.

       When we keep our eyes on Jesus, leaning in to trust our lives in His hands, believing He wants the best for us, knowing His power and strength will be with us through it all, then we will not fear the winds and waves of our lives.  And when we are going through our daily tasks, plowing our fields and we keep our eyes on Him, our lives turn out better than we can ever imagine, and certainly easier to continue our work in!

 

 

*Ps. 18:2- The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. KJV

**Heb. 1b,2a- …let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. NIV  Is. 45:22

(this is an early post reprint from Mar. 28, 2011 with extra thoughts on the topic.)