Johnny Appleseed

This Sunday in church I'm continuing to talk about our walk with the King.

Because it's Father's Day, I'm teaching on the importance of planting seeds of vision, hope, and promise for those who follow us.

I love the story of John Chapman: the small, godly and somewhat eccentric man that is eulogized as Johnny Appleseed. Initially he made a living as a gardener selling small apple trees then as a man on a mission, John walked hundreds of miles with a large bag of appleseeds over his back.

At times he would carefully plant rows of seeds in a specified acre and at other times Johnny would plant acres at a time. The investment of those 50 years of his life didn't really pay dividends to him. Rather, the generation who followed after him benefitted from his lifetime of sacrifice.

Years later the seeds from Johnny Appleseed's work provided the fruit that kept Western pioneers alive during some very bleak winters.

The Bible pattern is that vision should be fulfilled over generations. We fathers are planting seeds today that our grabchildren will harvest after we are already in heaven. What do I see for their future? What kind of seeds am I planting?