“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say”
~ Isaiah 28:23
Hi James and Ellen,
Because your grandpaa grew up on a farm, your grandpaa has found Isaiah 28 to be very helpful when he has interacted with guys and gals about how they might be able to lead a guy, gal or kid to make a decision of faith in accepting Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. Have you ever talked to a kid about how he or she can make a decision of faith by believing in what God – as God the Son – Jesus Christ, did on a cross for the guys, gals and kids who God – as God the Father, before He created planet Earth elected to be His own adopted children? God called Isaiah to be a spokesman to His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, who lived in the southern part of land area that God had His specially chosen guys and gals reclaim to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . the southern part of the land area that God had His specially chosen guys and gals reclaim was known as Judah. When Isaiah began passing on the messages that God was giving him to pass on to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Judah, the northern part of the land that God had His specially chosen guys and gals reclaim to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . had been overrun by Assyrian’s army with the guys and gals who were living in the northern part of the land taken away into servitude by the Assyrian army. The northern part of the land that God had His specially chosen guys and gals reclaim was known as Israel. When Isaiah spoke to the guys who were leaders in Judah, God had Isaiah use as an example why the guys and gals who had lived in Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrian army. God had Isaiah specifically refer to the Ephraim tribal clan guys and gals as the ultimate example of God’s specially chosen guys and gals having gone really bad in spite of His patience with them. God’s specially chosen guys and gals – including priests and prophets, who lived in the Ephraim tribal clan’s area – which came to be called Samaria, were getting drunk with wine and beer. God used Isaiah to tell His specially chosen guys and gals who lived in Judah that what had happened to His specially chosen guys and gals who lived in Israel would for sure also happen to them if . . .
Verse 23 – “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say”, begins a wisdom ode about how a farmer farms. Your grandpaa likes to use this verse in concert with what Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote about in their books concerning a farmer who Jesus used in a parable who was sowing his fields. A farmer knows when it is time to prepare the soil to plant the seeds that he is planning to plant, the time to plant the seeds where he wants to plant the seeds, how to plant the seeds that he is planting, how to care for the growing plants in the fields where he planted the seeds and when and how to harvest and store the seeds from the plants that he has planted. Jesus ended the parable that Matthew, Mark and Luke recounted with almost identical words that are found in verse 23. Do you hope to one day sow the seed of God’s Word in the hearts of guys, gals and kids?
If you wanted to begin doing farming today, do you know what you would need? Your grandpaa’s dad had three tractors, a disc, plow, drag, grain planter, corn planter, sickle, grain binder, threshing machine, flatbed and wagon. One of the first times that your grandpaa remembers driving a tractor was when your grandpaa’s dad decided to plow the field just east of the barn that was on the farm where your grandpaa grew up as a kid. This field had never been plowed or tilled before. It had native sod. Your grandpaa’s dad first tried to plow this field using just his CASE but . . . your dad’s grandpa then decided to chain his A John Deere to the front of his CASE and have your grandpaa drive the A John Deere while he drove the CASE to plow this field so that he could prepare the field to plant seeds in it. Once your dad’s grandpaa had completely plowed the field using two tractors, the field had to be disked to break up the clods of sod and then dragged to make the field level so that your grandpaa’s dad could plant the seeds that he wanted to plant in the field. Talking to a guy, gal or kid about making a decision of faith is like plowing a field that has never been plowed. It can take a lot of work to get a field ready or to get a life ready to have a seed planted in it or to have the seed of hope – God’s Word, planted in it. Farmers know that different seeds are planted differently. Oat seeds are spread on the ground. Your grandpaa’s dad would have your grandpaa drag the field where he wanted to plant oat seeds and then after he planted the oat seeds have your grandpaa using the drag drag dirt over the oat seeds. Corn kernels are planted in rows. Oat seeds are harvested using threshing machines or combines. Corn is harvested using corn pickers. Oat seeds are crushed for flour. Corn kernels are ground for feed. The life of a kid – or guy or gal, who has never heard God’s Word spoken by any guy or gal, can be compared to a field that has never had seeds sown in it. You can be farmers who God will use to prepare fields – which will be the lives of kids – or lives of guys and/or gals, to receive the seed which is God’s Word. God’s Word is one seed which can be seen as a lot of different kinds of seeds. As you prepare the life of a kid – or of a guy or gal, to have the seed of God’s Word planted in his or her life, you will need to do different things to befriend the kid – or the guy or gal, to have the seed of God’s Word planted in his or her life. Once God’s Word has been planted in the life of a kid – or in a guy or gal, you will need to take care of the seed of God’s Word that has been planted in different ways – until the kid – or the guy or gal, is a mature Christ-follower. Being a farmer for God – by planting God’s Word seed in the lives of kids – and guys and gals, is what God wants you to do. Listen to God and He will tell you where to . . .
Isaiah 28 (356)