The worst practical joke in life is when we plant poisonous seeds and think they will never produce.  The best thing we can do for others is to plant the seed of a positive, winsome Christian witness.

Well, it’s official.  I have been diagnosed with March Madness.  It’s the illness that comes upon all true basketball fans this time of year.  I would guess some of you have caught it, too.  I was recently reading John Ed Mathison’s book “Extra Effort”.  He tells the story of a newspaper article in the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, paper about twenty or so years ago…sorry that I don’t have the exact paper or date.  The article was about how seriously people in North Carolina take their basketball and how Bugs Barringer had enough of his friends’ crowing about Duke University’s athletic prowess including two national championships in a row in 1991 and 1992.  We all know how Bugs feels, no matter who our favorite team is!  Anyway, Bugs went to early church one Sunday morning.  While his Duke friend was in church at the later service, Bugs went to his house with ten pounds of rye grass seed.  He cut a hole in the bag and used the seed to spell UNC on his friend’s front lawn.

Nobody noticed anything at first.  It just takes a lot of patience, and as Bugs said, “You have got to know how to spell and the Lord will take care of the rest.”   Sure enough!  A few rainstorms and weeks later, Duke alum, Vernon Sechriest’s front yard claimed his unwilling allegiance to the University of North Carolina! 

John Ed then makes the point that when seeds are planted, you can always know that some fruit is going to be produced.  A lot of times folks think there is nothing wrong with “sowing a few wild oats.”  Those wild oats always have a way of coming up and embarrassing us at the wrong time. 

During the planting season, our task each day is to plant the seeds of Christian witness so those seeds might take root and produce Christian fruit.  Unlike Bugs Barringer, you probably won’t find the folks in church when the seeds need to be planted.  Make use of every day of the week to plant the seeds and to invite folks to attend church with you.  I understand that this is just one of the practical jokes that Bugs and Vernon used to pull on each other.

The worst practical joke in life is when we plant poisonous seeds and think they will never produce.  The best thing we can do for others is to plant the seed of a positive, winsome Christian witness.

     See you at the planting place on Sunday! 

   I love you!    Jeff