Seeds and Helicopters

I walked out my front door this morning to a see of those little helicopter seedlings that fall from trees (I'm sorry, I have a bachelor's degree in zoology, not botany. I don't know what kind of tree it is.) Instead of being the usual green, it is almost a yellowish-white because of all the seedlings that have fallen. When I was a kid, I used to pretend they were helicopters and would drop them from height just to see them spin to the ground. Ahh, the good old days.
Now I don't have just one of these trees in the yard, but three. Not just my yard, but the entire neighborhood is infested with these little chances of growing more trees. Now what are the chances of any of these seedlings becoming a tree? Probably not very large. Most will be swept away, mowed away, raked away into oblivion. Knowing that, do the trees stop producing these seedlings? Next year when I come out about this time will the tree be free from these little helicopters? No.
All right, here's the application. Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel. He didn't say to go and baptize the world, but to preach the gospel. We measure success in ministry and in missions by the number of baptisms there are. If our mission is successful, then we've had baptismal biceps. But before can come the results, must come the seed sowing. I think we've forgotten about the latter and push the former. Jesus said the field was "white for harvest." Before the harvest, however, there had to be sowing. Maybe it's time we get the seed bag back out and start sowing seed again. And you know what, let's allow God to determine how successful the harvest is. Have a great day. JW