You Are Picked For A Purpose: What Were The Seeds Sown In Your Life?

What are the seeds that were sown in your life?  And did those seeds eventually bear fruit?  In other words, how did you first hear about God's love and purpose for you? Can you remember when that was? Or whether it made any difference to your way of thinking? Or your way of life? 

For me, it was when my mother – knowing my father's love of books – bought him a leather-bound copy of Great Short Stories of the World. I was barely five years old at the time and, with what I'm sure was the desire to inspire my love of story-telling, my father used to read them to me each night, when I went to bed. Among them were Little Red Riding Hood, written by French author, Charles Perrault (1628-1703), and The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant, also French (1850-1893). By far my favourite, though, was The Selfish Giant written by British author Oscar Wilde (1854-1900).

It is a story I was once invited to recount to a local primary school. Describing the way in which the children of the time used to play in the Giant's garden each day, after school, it begins by showing how the birds 'sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other.'

Things soon changed, however, when the Giant, returned from a seven year visit to his friend, the Cornish ogre. “What are you doing there?” he shouted. “My own garden is my own garden . . . and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” He then built a high wall all around it, and put up a notice board which read, “Trespassers will be prosecuted.”

The children now had nowhere to play. Sadly, they recalled the happy times they had once enjoyed.

For the Selfish Giant, though, things became worse. When Spring broke out all over the country, Winter remained in his garden. The birds failed to sing, and the trees forgot to blossom. One flower that put its head up from the ground, saw the notice, and was so sorry for the children, that it slipped back and went off to sleep again. 'The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost.' Realising they could live there all year round, she covered the ground 'with her great white cloak', and he 'painted all the trees silver'. Spring and Summer never came, and when Autumn gave fruit to other gardens, she gave none to the Giant's.

Then, one morning, he woke to the sound of music. It was, actually, a linnet. 'Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring . . .' The Giant jumped out of bed, and saw the most wonderful sight. The children had crept in through a little hole in the wall, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. 'In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossom . . .' The birds sang, and the flowers bloomed. It was a lovely sight.

Only in one corner of the garden, it was still winter. Beneath a tree, still covered in frost and snow, stood a small boy. '“Climb up, little boy,” said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could, but the boy was too tiny.'

The Giant's heart melted, and realising why the Spring would not come to his garden, he recognised how selfish he had been. Vowing to knock down the wall, and to make his garden a playground for the children once more, he crept downstairs and went to put the little boy up in the tree. But when he went out to the garden, and the children saw him, they were so frightened, they ran away. Winter covered the garden once more.

Only the little boy remained, for his eyes were so full of tears that he failed to see the Giant. Taking him gently in his hands, the Giant placed him in the tree, which immediately broke into blossom, and was filled with birds singing in its branches. The little boy flung his arms around the Giant's neck and kissed him. Then the children, seeing that the Giant was no longer wicked, 'came running back, and with them came the Spring.'

Every afternoon thereafter, 'the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again.' Years went by, and the Giant grew old and feeble. Unable to play with them any more, he would sit and watch them. “I have many beautiful flowers,” he said, “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.”

He no longer hated Winter because he knew it was merely that the Spring was asleep 'and that the flowers were resting.' He did miss the little boy, though. Then one winter morning, he saw the most marvellous sight. In the far corner of the garden was a tree covered with beautiful white blossom. And beneath it was the little boy he loved!

'Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came close his face grew red with anger . . . For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

“Who hath dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant; “tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.”

“Nay!” answered the child; “but these are the wounds of Love.”

“Who art thou?” said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, “You let me play once in your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.”

And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.'

It still makes me weep to read this, and to see the way in which Jesus gave up His life for us, so that we might know the Father's forgiveness for our sin, and be with Him in Heaven. Growing up, as I did, in a family in which no one went to church, these were the seeds that God sowed in my life. Seeds, that despite lying dormant in shallow soil for decades, ultimately put down roots, sent up shoots, blossomed and bore fruit.

I'd love to hear how the seeds of God's love were sown in your life. Do leave a comment below. And next time, we'll take a look at those roots and shoots.