It is said of Columbus that he carried the seed of flowers and scattered them around wherever his vessel anchored. This simple act of the explorer may have seemed insignificant to his associates but it left for Columbus a perpetual monument of the beautiful flowers of Spain, blooming hundreds of years after his death in distant lands. Seed has the capacity to reproduce itself and multiply from year to year and so the reward of the sower abides perpetually. The labour of the builder may crumble and perish but the sower of good seed has an everlasting compensation.

Some years ago it was necessary to find traces of an old family who once were very influential in a certain community. An investigator went to the district to try and find some information about the family. He searched the records but could find no trace of them whatsoever. He visited the site of their supposed mansion. Not a stone remained to tell the place. Disappointed with his attempts, he approached an aged man : “Do you know anything of the Findernes ?”

“Findernes !” was the reply, “We have no Findernes here but we do have Findernes flowers.” There was a clue. The old man led the way to a field where there were traces of an ancient terrace. “There,” said he, pointing to a bank of garden flowers growing wild, “these are the Findernes flowers, brought by Sir Geoffrey Findernes from the Holy Land, and do what we will they will never die.

Sir Geoffrey Findernes left a more lasting memorial than that written in the church records in the village, and more lasting than the walls of the stately mansion which bore his name. He sowed seed from Palestine around his dwelling and when everything else of him was forgotten the flowers of the Holy Land continued to grow and bloom, an undying monument to his memory.

No work is more noble or full with more blessed possibilities than the work of sowing the seed of the gospel. If you prayerfully scatter gospel tracts and preach Christ by both lip and life you will leave behind you, or carry with you, a more glorious reward than those who make millions or shape the destinies of nations. It is what you sow, not what you save that will leave the flowers of blessing behind you and bless your memory.

The Lord Jesus called Himself a sower. He left no buildings or institutions behind Him to perpetuate His Name. He did not organise His disciples into a fraternity. He merely sowed. He sowed the Word of God in the hearts of men and sowed Himself in the earth. He went forth in sorrow, bearing precious seed. He wept, He sighed, He was weary with His journey. It was His sowing time. But what a harvest from that sowing !

Psalm 126:6; Eccl 11:6; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Cor 9:6; John 12:24

Author – Leonard Sheldrake