Last week I had to leave the farm for a week and we were waiting on one young cow that still needed to give birth. I really wanted her to have her calf before I left. With less than 12 hours remaining until I was to get on a plane, I noticed that she was finally in labor. Of course she had waited until sunset, so I would be monitoring her in the dark. As I went to check on her the first time, I found myself praying, under my breath; praying that God would protect our investments and that the calf would be born quickly, easily and safely.
We had the opportunity to spend a long weekend with our friends in Nebraska recently. It’s always refreshing to have time away, for your mind to have moments to rest and your soul to be replenished by friends who welcome you like family. One afternoon, husband and I had a few minutes to drive around and just enjoy the area. Now, by drive around, I mean ride in sporty side-by-side that went really fast and no, I wasn’t driving! Do you know what I saw ? Corn, some cattle, corn, soybeans, and more corn. Corn was everywhere! Fields as far as the eye can see; all of them in various stages of harvest. (Fun Fact: The Cornhusker State is the 3rd largest corn-producing state in the US.) In some of the fields, the corn was still a little green and not quite ready to be picked. A good bit of the corn was dry enough, but the ground was extremely saturated from recent rains and that was preventing the farmers from bringing the heavy equipment in to pick the corn. In a few areas though, they have been able to get the machinery in the fields and they have been able to harvest a bit. (Another Fun Fact: Nebraska produces 1/4 of the nation’s popcorn! )
Funny thing is, when I think of corn fields, I don’t necessarily think of fields full of very dry corn stalks. I think of tall, green stalks waving in the wind and when the tassel is dry at the tip of the ear, the corn is ready to pick and eat. That usually means work for us to shuck the corn and prep it to be put in the freezer! Just think of all that delicious, buttered corn on the cob and creamed corn and fried corn, and….! (You can taste it now, can’t you?) But the thoughts of plump, juicy ears of corn were not matching the visuals in front of me. All I could see was what looked like dead and dry, wasted fields of corn. Now don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that not all corn is grown for human consumption. But I guess I just never really thought about the process. Why was the corn left here to dry out? It just seemed to me like corn should be picked at its peak and when it was “ready” instead of left in the field to dry out. But there is the point, isn’t it? That’s what I thought should happen. That’s what I thought the process should be.
I was looking at those fields and what I was seeing was wasted potential when really it hadn’t even begun to meet its full potential! I didn’t know the process. I didn’t know the plan. See that corn will be picked once it is DRY and sold for all kinds of intents and purposes. It will be sold and processed for animal feeds, ethanol fuel and possible even flours and corn syrup, not to mention, popcorn! This corn will only be considered wasted if it isn’t harvested and it is left in the field. Wow! what an eye opener! How many times have I looked at someone and thought about the wasted life? (Ok, don’t get all holier-than-thou on me! You’ve thought it too.) How many times have I failed to harvest what was in right in front of me and possibly prevented that life from reaching its full potential just because it didn’t appear the way I thought it would? How many times have I missed the opportunity because I was looking with my vision and not His eyes? Proverbs 19:21-22 says, ” Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. What is desired in a man is steadfast love..” I am convicted today that I have failed to harvest a single ear of corn, maybe even failed to pick an entire field. I am convinced that many times the field, or even the single ear of corn, has been right in front of me and instead of seeing a harvest, I have seen a waste because it wasn’t the picture of harvest that I had in my mind. “Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, there are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.’ John 14:34-35.” May we all, today, see past the dryness. May we look past the dry stalks and look inside with His eyes and see the kernels, the seeds of life, waiting to be harvested and do our part to help them meet their full potential in Christ. And if today, you recognize that you are that dry corn and you need to be harvested, the combine is ready for picking! Jesus is waiting for us to be at the point of our need, where we are ripe for the harvest. Call on Him today and He will answer and pluck you from the dry field and set you on the path to production and reaching your full potential.
The Sinner’s Prayer (by Dr. Ray Pritchard)
Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. I am ready to trust you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and be my Savior. Amen.
We are loving the fact that babies are arriving! But as cute as they are, new calves mean work! Each new baby and mom need to be watched carefully to ensure that the baby is getting the necessary nutrition and that mom knows what she’s doing! Each new calf also needs to get weighed, ear-tagged, and ear tattooed. Weights are taken for record keeping in order to keep breed records accurate. Ear tags are for our visual recognition purposes and the ear tattoos are for breed records and registrations. An animal’s registration can always be verified by matching the ear tattoo to the records. Husband, whether alone or with help, has to go out to the pasture with the scales and weigh, tag and tattoo all of the new calves. We try to do this as soon after birth as possible! I mean, wrestling 60-80 pounds of fresh, calm newborn is a whole lot easier than a few-day old, frisky baby! The tattoo can be visualized later if necessary but those ear tags are what is important for us. The ear tag, for our farm, usually includes the birth weight and date along with the dam and sire. The dam is the mother and the sire is the father. This visual information helps us to identify the calf and its genetics at a glance without having to pull records. Sometimes you need to know age of then calf to determine when to wean or who the calf belongs to when moving cattle to different pastures. Also, the dates and weights come in handy when visually comparing calves. We can determine if one maybe isn’t growing as fast as those of the same age range or if one is just a real standout based on size and age. Identification is really important and the quicker the better.
We can look in that pasture and identify a certain calf by that ear tag. Are you tagged? I have been asking that question of myself lately and have been (hopefully!) driving that into my children! Am I that easily identified in a crowd? We should be visually recognizable as Christians and children of God just like those calves are. Someone should be able to take one look at us and know who we are and who’s we are. John 13:35 ESV says “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” I’ve been working on my love for others….I need a lot of work! I know, and maybe you do too, that it is easy to love the lovable. But I’m learning and reminding myself that I have a big ‘ole tag in my ear that says I am a Christian and that means I better act like it! I want others to know who and what I am. I want them to see me with that tag in my ear and say, “I know her. She’s a Christian.” I don’t want them to see that tag and be confused by it, or worse yet, not see my tag at all! I hope and pray that my appearance and behavior match my tag! So my reminder to myself, and maybe you today, would be to check to check our tags. Are you like the calf in the picture below? Have you lost your identification? It’s easy to get re-tagged. Just talk to Him today. He will be so happy to put the tag right back on you. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Praying for you all today. May we all be tagged and found in the pasture when He comes!
That one! You always have that one that looses her tag…now who is she again?
Great story showing us where there’s a will, there’s a way! We have to trust that God’s will for us…
He’s pretty smart!
I loved this analogy! And what a smart steer to learn to undo gates. Thank you for sharing this story.…
Thank you , Heather. What a beautiful and thoughtful devotion!
The commission. Our job! Thank you for your kind words.
