Matthew 7

There was a boy who grew up in a farming community during a great depression as a result of a terrible drought.  Because of the drought most farms were decimated, and most farmers and their families suffered terrible losses, including watching many of their children die.  It was a horrific scene! 

The boy witnessed this loss all around him.  His family suffered, but not like the other families.  His dad was an exceptional farmer and had a much greater farming knowledge than the other farmers in the community, so his plants always produced slightly more than his neighbours.  So, even though they did not have anything to spare, they had enough to stay alive. 

This scene of carnage weighed heavily on the boy, and he realized that not all farmers tended their crops the same, but they all seemed to use different methods, and the farmers who used better methods survived the drought better than others.  And, based on the bottom line, his dad apparently used the best method of all, which meant that there must be a better way yet. 

The boy, touched by the plight of his neighbours, and having nowhere else to turn, went to the Lord in prayer and begged the Lord to show him a method that would work even in a drought, so that his family and neighbours might not suffer anymore. 

The Lord heard that prayer, and that very morning the Lord started teaching that boy.  And each day the boy would apply the new lessons that the Lord had taught.  This went on until the boy’s little garden flourished and produced more than an entire field.  The boy excitedly went about telling the other farmers this new method that the Lord had showed him, but he was met with horrible treatment. 

One farmer would say, “My father before me farmed this way, and his father before him farmed this way, and I am going to keep their memory alive and continue farming their way,” even though his fathers never experienced a drought. 

Another farmer said that, “If your way works so well boy, then your family should be well fed and healthy.”  The boy answered, “They are.”  The farmer retorted, “I saw you with the sniffles last year, so you are not perfectly healthy.  You are just trying to deceive me to lead me away from the traditions of my fathers.” 

Another farmer hated the boy because he saw the results and knew his own methods were lacking, then accused the boy, “You are using some sort of witchcraft or evil to get your bountiful harvests,” and he spread his lies and rumours far and wide, scaring others from even listening to what the boy had to say. 

The boy went home dejected.  His only hope had been to help his fellow man, but they rejected such a simple thing.  When he arrived home, he found that his garden was under threat and his neighbours were trying to ruin him.  It wasn’t long before some of his friends and neighbours drove the boy out of their community.  After all, they reasoned, if the Lord was going to reveal anything to anyone, He would reveal it to the lineage of the “chosen” families first, even though God has proclaimed:

“I am no respecter of persons” 

Go directly to God in person.  He is no respecter of persons.  He will accept everyone who repents and does His will.  You do not have to be of the “blessed” or “chosen” lineages.  You are a child of God.  Your Father will talk directly to you!  Go to Him; He is waiting for you. 

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