HeartThrob: Scattering Precious Seed

By Jackie Wahl (January, 2003)

"Scattering precious seed" is a phrase from an old hymn, but lifted out of its context it sounds like an exercise in wasting something of worth. And that is what I think about when I see the little birds at my feeder hop around and push those expensive sunflower seeds to the ground. After all, I bought them for their nourishment. How can they treat my efforts with such disregard?

And then I notice a "second shift" has arrived in the form of two hungry squirrels. They dig and nibble for the scattered seeds with the energy of one who expects the world to end before they are filled. Once in a while, one will scoot up a ways in a nearby myrtle tree and look greedily at the feeder, but experience has taught him that I am smarter than he is. I have calculated carefully as to how far he can jump and have placed the feeder accordingly; and in addition, a "squirrel cap" is fastened to the pole.

Yet, I am pleased to see the little scavengers devouring the dropped seeds. For, after all, seeds on the ground have the potential of sprouting, and come spring I could have a hefty crop of sunflowers to spoil my carefully landscaped lawn.

As the above phrase continued to linger in my consciousness, I decided to look for the hymn. It took a while, but finally I found it.

Scattering precious seed by the wayside;
Scattering precious seed by the hillside;
Scattering precious seed o'er the field, wide;
Scattering precious seed by the way.

The hymn is not speaking of wasting something of worth. It is taking something of worth and broadcasting it as the farmer does when he has a large field to plant. He does not plant one seed at a time but handfuls over and over again until every inch of his ground is covered. The precious seed the hymn writer is referring to is God's precious Word of salvation. The wayside, the hillside, the field, and the way, all fairly well cover our total sphere of influence.

How does one broadcast the Word of God? With our tongues, our demeanor, our appearance, even our countenance, we reach out to every corner of our living sphere -- a smile to the scowling store clerk, a soft answer to the sharp-tongued, a helping hand to the infirmed, a word of encouragement to the harassed waitress. The Word of God translated into action is the pre-curser to the spoken Word. Often we must earn the privilege of sharing the spoken Word by the scattering of evidences of our Lord's lovingkindness.

"Yet I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3).