Steadfast at
Home

You don't need to live on a thousand acres to live the homestead life.  It is more about a commitment of the heart rather than where you dwell.

In the Introductory issue of New Harvest Homestead we share our thoughts on what it really means to live a "home-centered" life and why it's important to preserve this time-honored existence.

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Putting Your Hand to the Plow

       It was our first summer here.  Our gardening experience consisted of what little we had learned tending our postage stamp sized patch in the suburbs of Southern California.  Now I stood before a plot roughly the size of a city lot.  I had no idea where to start.

       We wanted to plant rows of corn.  At that time, we didn't own any really handy farming equipment like rototillers or seed-sowing machines; just a few rudimentary tools like the spade in my hand.  So, there I stood, staring at this vast expanse of dirt - clueless.

       But, we had dreamed of this, prayed for it, asked for it and the Lord had magnanimously given us this piece of land to work.  So, work it we would.  I would just do what seemed logical to make that furrow.

       I crossed the width of the garden and began at the far side.  Walking backwards, I began chopping down into the ground with the spade and pulling it toward myself, watching the furrow as I formed it.  When I got to the other side, after no small amount of huffing and puffing, I was dismayed to see that my corn row had taken a definite turn south.

       "Well then, how does one make a straight furrow?" I wondered.

       As I stood contemplating this question, the words of Jesus began to flow through my head.  No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.  By constantly watching where I was and keeping my eyes on the ground, I  was incapable of walking a straight path.   Like the soft breeze around me, a still, small voice whispered in my heart, "Fix your eyes on Me."

        The sun filtered through the trees in golden rays as through stained glass in a cathedral.  I stood silently on the good, warm earth with spade in hand and felt the presence of God so near that His Spirit seemed to positively engulf me.  It was as if, for a moment, I had stepped out of time and into eternity.

       Crossing back to the other side of the garden again, I fixed my eyes on a small, white rock on the far end.  I put the spade behind me and began to walk, dragging it along.  I never looked back.  When I finished and turned around, I laughed out loud as I beheld a perfectly straight and narrow line.

       This is how the Kingdom of God works.  We are not supposed to focus on the path beneath us.  If we do, we will probably wind up on some rabbit trail far from our intended destination.  The answer has been, is now and forever will be keeping our eyes on Jesus.  That is what kept Peter on top of the water despite the storm and why Stephen could pray for his murderers to be forgiven in the final moments of his life.

       "You are but aliens and sojourners with Me," says the Lord (Lev. 25:23).  Some believers will walk through this life so distracted by the cares and worries and enticements of this world that they will have scarcely anything to show for the long, arduous journey once they reach the end.  But, others will have understood the mystery revealed in Christ "in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  They will walk through their days yoked together with their Savior; enjoying the affectionate and intimate dialogue only the closest of friends can share.  A Christian who has been so engaged with his Redeemer will look up one happy day and be surprised to find he has arrived at his Father's doorstep.  Like those blessed disciples on the road to Emmaus, he will have hardly noticed the passing time.

       On that long ago day in my garden, the Lord embedded this truth in my heart more deeply than could have ever been possible had I not been digging that furrow.  Since then, He has come alongside of us many, many times to teach us as we have sowed, weeded and reaped.  The Holy Spirit seems to enjoy a good object lesson.

       We pray you will come to know the abundance of joy in pursuing the simple, homestead life.

Excerpted from the introductory issue of New Harvest Homestead.