By QuaWanna Bannarbie

I am by no means a master gardener. Yet, I have observed that gardening and cultivating the life of fruit-bearing plants closely parallels our lives in fellowship and in community.

I have learned so much from the practice of gardening. I decided to write about seeds to encourage the reading community that there are seeds in your life that can and will produce fruit … good fruit. Let’s carefully consider the potential of seeds.

Many gardeners purchase seeds to plant and grow. Serious gardeners save seed from the prior harvest season. There is a good reason for this practice of saving seeds. The gardener who is pleased with what he or she harvested can be confident of what may result from the heirloom offspring. The gardener knows from the parent and grandparent produce what lies inside those seeds.

Earlier this year, I planted some seeds in my garden that I saved from the previous year. However, I forgot to label the seeds. I was confident that the seeds were in the melon family. But I was unsure whether the produce would bring a honeydew, a cantaloupe or a cucumber. They are all similar in their seed form. Although I was not sure what the seeds would bring forth, I planted them.

On the day that I placed those seeds in the ground, in my prepared garden bed, I realized that I was acting on expectancy. I did not know exactly what was in it. I acted on what I knew that seed had for me. I was willing and somewhat excited to find out what would appear in the months ahead.

We are vessels carrying many, many seeds both spiritually and naturally. There is great potential and unlimited possibilities of what we will create when we act with the right motive. In fact, we imitate our creator most when we are planting and cultivating.

God prepared a place for the man in the earth. The man represents His seed. He is created in God’s image and likeness. In the first chapter of the book of Genesis, God says to the man and woman, “be fruitful and multiply.” When we read Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ saith the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end,’” we see God’s mindset in creating us. This is my favorite scripture in the entire Bible. I often mix the translations, because I like thinking how God’s plans for me stem from His expectations for my life. He placed me in a womb years ago with seeds that he knows will bring forth because He is the parent heir. He knows the seeds that He planted.

There are now six maturing cantaloupes in my garden. They are the result of the unlabeled seeds that I planted. I do not remember what their parent fruit tastes like, but it does not matter. I am thrilled that the seeds produced fruit. If I had left them in my cabinet simply because I could not identify the exact type of seeds, I would never have this story to share. The same is with you. If you have not worked the seeds in your life, you will never have the story to tell how they produced fruit in your family and your community. It is an act of faith to put seeds in the ground. When we expect fruit, we are operating in faith. God demonstrated His faith in you by depositing His seeds in you. Align with God’s plans for you.

Perhaps the movie “The Lorax” said it best, “It’s not what it is. It’s about what it can become.” This is truth. The Lorax may have read a bit of 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

I am just positive enough to believe that this series has encouraged you to believe that there is potential waiting as seeds to grow and develop in you. Today is the day for watering your seeds. God expects you to be fruitful.

QuaWanna Bannarbie is an adjunct professor of nonprofit leadership and management with Indiana Wesleyan University, National and Global. Her children attend Suffolk Public Schools. Connect with her via Twitter @QNikki_Notes.