The Necessary Work

This weekend I spent a great deal of time in my yard pulling weeds and reseeding spots that were a little bare. Someone told me that all I needed to do was sprinkle the seed and keep it watered and my lawn be in great shape. Following that advice, I began doing just that: I carried my bag of seed around the yard taking handfuls and gently shaking it out over the earth, looking forward to a lush lawn as the fruit of my labor. 

North of my property is a wise man who has worked with his hands his whole life. He knows how to handle every odd job you might come across and generally has a tool for it was well. He watched me as I worked for a bit, and finally hollered, "What are you working on?" I told him that I was seeding some bare spots and he shook his head and said I wasn't doing the necessary work. I must have looked confused because he started walking towards his workshop saying, "Follow me." Inside his workshop he handed me a metal rake with blades and said, "Work up the dirt with this. You have to create a seed bed. If you don't, one hard rain will wash all of your seed away. 

After thanking him for his advice and the tool, I went about doing "the necessary work" he talked about. Boy, was I in for a surprise. What I thought would be a quick job of seeding my lawn, turned out to be a sweaty, exhausting, endeavor. I would rake out a patch one direction pushing and pulling through clay, rock, and hard dirt, and then rake it perpendicularly to break up the soil. Afterwards, I would add seed and get on my hands and knees to cover the seed with dirt. I did this over and over only finishing a small part of my yard.

This process took more time, was harder on my muscles, caused more sweat, and even required me to tear up some spots that had already been growing, but not thriving. This process also got me thinking about my professional life, character development, and spiritual journey. My neighbor told me that I wasn't doing "the necessary work" in order to reap the fruit of my labor and I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing something similar in other areas in my life.

I observe that many times we are doing a lot of things to improve: we attend professional conferences, we read the right books, we go to church, we attend the right events... We are continuously scattering this seed over our lives, but are we doing the necessary work to create a healthy seed bed in the soil of our hearts and minds? How do we turn these valuable seeds into something fruitful and vibrant instead of allowing them to be washed away by "hard rains?"

I am not sure exactly what "the necessary work" looks like for you, but I can tell you for me it is focusing on fewer goals that are more meaningful to my purpose here on earth. It's not about me learning the newest networking technique...It's about me dealing with my character flaws so that I am a genuinely likable person. It isn't about me playing whack-a-mole with symptoms of identity issues and false beliefs about myself, but instead is about me taking the time to discover and know the innate value God has given me. It is about inviting people into my life that know enough about what I need to guide me toward the hard work required to become a better man.

Life is short, and your life has meaning. I encourage you to spend time doing the necessary work in order for your life’s meaning to have an impact beyond your current capacity.

I look forward to having you alongside me in the journey.