Bible Stories for the Young
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After Amos warned the people about God’s rolling justice… and after He told them that one day He would rebuild David’s temporary hut… God told Amos something else to tell the people.
He said, “In the future, the time is coming when the worker plowing the ground to plant the seed will catch up with the worker collecting the fruit! And the one who stomps the grapes to make the grape juice will run into the guy planting.” (Wait a minute! That doesn’t sound like normal farming, does it? Let’s hear what else God said.)
“The mountains will flow with sweet drink. And I’ll bring My people back to their land. They’ll plant vineyards and gardens and drink and eat from them. I will plant them in their land, never to be pulled up again from the land I have given them.”
Can you picture this? Imagine so much food to harvest that one guy is still collecting, collecting, collecting all the fruit, and the next thing he knows, the worker behind him is planting MORE seeds and catching up to him.
Hurry, farmer! Hurry! Gather faster! Don’t worry about storing it all up for the winter months. Look! The rains, the planting rains, they’re coming to soften the hard ground! It’s already time to plant again! Faster, farmer, Faster! Harvest it all! Give it away! Feast on it! And plant some more!
Look! The vineyard is growing like crazy! The grapes are ready to be made into juice, but the harvesters can’t keep up. Sweet juice for everyone! Too much to even drink! It’s flowing down the hillsides. The rains are here again! But the farmers haven’t finished collecting. Eat it up! Share it! Because the crops just keep on comin’… Rejoice! And run, Farmer, Run! You’ve got this!
Can you imagine there being so much to harvest, that the people gathering the grain and fruit can’t even collect it all before it’s time to plant again? Watch for it to begin to happen in the stories to come… and keep watching for it in your own lifetime!
But don’t be looking to harvest a bunch of plants… because these things are “shadows” and “pictures” to help us understand God’s Plan. The real seed is God’s Word. Do you remember how earlier God told the people through Amos that He would cause a “famine” in hearing His voice? A time when people would be really hungry and thirsty to hear from God, but He’d be kind of quiet. God is letting them know now that it won’t be that way forever. The seed of God’s Words will come again, and it will grow so fast and produce so much fruit that the farmers in God’s field won’t be able to keep up with it all. And do you know what this “fruit” being harvested is going to be? The “fruit” is real change in people’s lives and in the world around you. People being set free from sin!
There will be people who don’t know God, but when they finally Hear His Truth, they will bow down at His feet and say, “Jesus is Lord,” the Boss, of their lives. This will happen with thousands of people in one day! Also, there will be people who have known God, but who have maybe still struggled to really grow in Jesus. The seed is growing in their heart, but it has been growing very sloooooowly. But because of the promises that God made through the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Joel, we know that these things will happen. A time is coming when God will send some heavy rains (His Holy Spirit), and then His Seed, His Word, will grow fast, fast, fast and so much, much, much.
I have little gardens all around my house. Do you know what I’ve noticed? If I don’t weed my garden in the beginning, then the weeds “win” and choke out my plants. Those weeds take over if I don’t rip them out or kill them! But if I faithfully weed my garden in the beginning when the plants are small, then when the rain and sunshine come and my plants grow tall, then my beautiful plants choke out most of those nasty weeds.
“Too bad, Mr. Weed. My plant is taking up all the space in my garden. No room for you.”
Sure, I still have to pull some sneaky weeds from time to time, but not nearly the amount I had to pull in the beginning when the good plants were still growing. So do the work with the weeds in your life, and when God really pours on His sun and rain, your plants will SPRING UP to Life, Life, Life, choking out most of those yucky weeds.
One proverb in the Bible says, “In the light of the King’s countenance is life, and His favor is as a cloud of the late rains.”
God told both Hosea and Joel that He will “come down like rain on the seed.” I love that! And there will come a day when the sunshine of the Glory of His Face, His Blessing, will Shine on that seed in a way that it has never shined before.
That, sweet children, is something to look forward to!
This is not a fairy tale. Like we said at the beginning, God is after something. He wants a Bride, and His Plan to get her includes destroying the works of the devil. God’s Big Plan will kick satan in the teeth and free people from the chains of sin. Watch for it! Count on it! Because YOU can be one of those people!
