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A
Modern Day Parable Author
Unknown A
successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a
successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or
his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young
executives in his company together. He
said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have
decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the
boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very
special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one
year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will
then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next
CEO." One
man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He
went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil
and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to
see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began
to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim
kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three
weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By
now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he
felt like a failure. Six
months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his
seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't
say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing
the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow. A
year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their
plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim
told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be
honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the
most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took
his empty pot to the boardroom. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety
of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes
and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues
laughed, a few felt sorry for him. When
the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim
just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers
you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the
next CEO!" All
of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He
ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim
was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have
me fired!" When
Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim
told him the story. The
CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced
to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His
name is Jim!" Jim
couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.. "How
could he be the new CEO?" the others said. Then
the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I
told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.
But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them
to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and
flowers. When you found the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed
for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to
bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore,
he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!" *
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust. *
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends. *
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness. *
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment. *
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective. *
If you plant hard work, you will reap success. *
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. So,
be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
& Divine
By
Bob Myhan By
“divine providence,” is meant “the foresight and forethought of the
infinite God who planned the creation of man and a world in which to place
him—a world in which He could control the destiny of the inanimate creation
and direct man to the consummation of His purpose” (Homer Hailey: Prayer
and Providence, p.123) General
providence involves God’s support, care and supervision of His material
creation from the beginning to the end. Special
providence involves God’s support, care and supervision of His spiritual
creation. He is able to provide for both His material and His spiritual
creations, without violating either human will or what we sometimes refer to as
“laws of nature.” Though
many, perhaps most, Christians do not realize it, there are some things that God
does through the agency of His people. While He may use us in ways that He has
not revealed, so that we do not always see the divine providence beforehand (see
Esther 4:12-14), there are ways in which He uses us that He has revealed. In
one respect, “Christ has no hands but our hands” (from “The World’s
Bible,” by Annie J. Flint), in that He has given us certain responsibilities
and obligations so that He can accomplish certain things through us. In doing
so, He allows us to play a part in His providential workings. Awareness of this
is a great encouragement. Nature
came into existence by the will of God. Philosopher Herbert Spenser (1820-1903)
proposed five "manifestations of the unknowable"—time, force,
action, space and matter. Interestingly, in the first verse of the Bible, Moses
explains the origin of the universe thus: In
the beginning 1
God 2
created 3
the heavens 4 and the
earth. 5 1Time
2Force
3Action
4Space
5Matter Moses
mentions all five of Spenser’s “manifestations.” Nature
was organized by the will of God. Initially, “the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” God gave it both light and
form. He filled the earth with plants and filled earth, sea and sky with living
creatures. He put the sun, moon and stars in space, and set them in motion (Gen.
1:2-19). Nature
is balanced by the will of God. Consider the sequence in which the several
kingdoms of nature were created. The mineral kingdom [all the elements—solid,
liquid and gas] was first. The vegetable kingdom [plant life] was second. And
the animal kingdom was third. This is just the sequence in which they allegedly
evolved. Consider, also, the food chain. Water enters soil; the minerals and
nutrients in the soil are broken down into a soil solution; plants absorb the
solution of water, minerals and nutrients; animals obtain the minerals and
nutrients by eating the plants. In this manner, God provides for the growth and
development of His physical creatures (Gen. 1:30; Matt. 6:26; Psa. 104:21). Nature
is regulated by the will of God—the seasons (Gen. 1:14; 8:22; Acts 14:17), the
sun and the rain (Job 28:23-27; Zech. 10:1; Matt. 5:45) and the stars (Job
38:31, 32). Even the lowly sparrows are not overlooked by God (Matt. 10:29; Luke
12:6). Man’s
ingenuity testifies to God’s control of nature. Man is able to employ the
“laws of nature.” For example, airplanes are able to fly, not by violating
the law of gravity but by utilizing the principles of aerodynamics, which man
learned from a study of nature. If man can harness God’s laws, the Great
Lawgiver surely can do so in providing for His creatures! This is general
providence. Man,
the crown of God’s creation, exists on two planes—material and immaterial,
physical and spiritual. As a physical being, man is subject to all physical
laws. But as a spiritual being, he is also subject to spiritual laws. Of all
physical creatures, man alone has free will. This simply means that he chooses
his actions. Unlike the lower creatures, he has very few instincts.
As a result,
man alone has the capacity to obey or disobey God. Adam, for example, was free
to eat from any of the trees of the garden but forbidden to eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9-17). Thus, freedom to act is not
license to act.
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