Seeds Have Needs; Getting From Potential to Bearing Fruit

This was written by Don 'Buck P' Creacy, someone I don't even know in person, only through facebook. (And yes, his name is spelled cy, unlike my sy - quite a coincidence in names!) We're both members of Louisville Christian Writers and I enjoy his posts on the group's page. When I read this, I asked his permission to share it with you. I know you'll be as touched by it as I was.

"That old oak tree has presided over the funerals of my ancestors in that same hillside cemetery, as far back as when we settled in this country. And someday it will preside over my funeral too."

That's what he said and I believe it too. I can't help it, I admire both kinds of roots; family and arboreal. I worry that my own roots aren't quite that good.

Oak trees & fruit trees have something in common, they bear fruit. Not just acorns or peaches but shade, shelter and even sometimes furniture comes from their woody bodies and odd shaped limbs.

Thousands of acorns every year just litter the ground. Littering the ground, they aren't eaten and they don't grow. They just rot; eventually. Yet each tiny acorn has the "potential" to become a mighty oak tree. But there are not thousands of new oak saplings every year beneath these old limbs, I wonder why?

The tree these acorns came from has deep roots, but there's too much shade for acorns to grow. It's well watered, and healthy as every leaf testifies, season by season. Yet every year it is producing more acorns and I still beg the question. Why doesn't every acorn become a tree? Is there more to bearing fruit than just... what? Was there ever a time when every acorn lived up to its full potential? Where are all the oak trees?

Jesus had something to say about these questions. Matthew 13:3-9 (NKJV)
“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Seeds have needs...

Seeds have needs, just like me... just like you. We need a place for our roots to grow with good deep rich moist soil. We need water and sun and truthfully we need these storms to strengthen our branches and encourage deeper growth. And in these present storms; lose what should be cast off. Yes, we need these storms.

Did you know that trees grow until they die? But acorns only hold "potential" to grow. Potential is the "possible" as opposed to the "actual". This is the potential Paul was expressing when he said, "I can all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me." The "all things" is our potential. Our actual strength comes from our roots being set deep in Jesus Christ, drawing everything from Him.

Yes every year there are SOME oak sprouts, some acorns DO make tiny trees, and some tiny saplings DO eventually make great big oak trees. All trees, oak, fruit or fir, face the elements, storms, cold, heat, drought and some pleasant good times. All the while they grow, as long as they live, and their roots keep digging deeper into the Source of Life. Actually, I know my little seed has sometimes laid on rocky soil, and except for the storms I would be there on that rocky ledge... with all my "potential".

Dear God, thank you for the storms that have washed me here to this place. This seems to be a good place to grow, I have so many needs; I do. A plot of soil for my roots and a place to bear fruit, please. I'd like to bear some fruit, that remains.

I want to grow till I die.

Please don't say to me... "Where are all the sapling trees?" Help me; help them.
Say instead; "Well done, good and faithful servant enter into the Joy of The Lord".

About the Author: 

Don ‘Buck P’ Creacy is the  Owner/Producer at A World of Storytelling Radio and Specialist at Toyota Motor Mfg. Kentucky  Studied Psychology and Education, Christian Ministry at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Originally from Borger, Texas, now lives in Stamping Ground, Kentucky.

You can hear his storytelling on the radio. He said, "Here's where you can find me."  On my radio station www.Live365.com/stations/storytellingradio Broadcasting in 119 countries, We're #17 in Talk Radio and www.professionalstoryteller.ning.com  or www.buckpcreacy.com