God in the mountains
Planted in Our Roots – She Said
The farmer sows the word. Mark 4:14 NIV
They’re farmers who know the result of their labor…who know what it means to reap what you sow.
I love the mountain folk. The heritage I’m blessed to have, burns deep in my heart. Perhaps it’s the simplicity of the life here. Maybe it’s the genuineness of the people. Could be the outright honesty that seeps from the people of the Appalachians. (It’s here we say the Appa-LACH-ians not Appa-lay-cians).
I live nestled between the crevice of the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains where the Eastern white pines and Fraser firs fill the air with the minty flavor of evergreen. Sugar maples drip their sap onto the fingers of those unafraid of the true sweetness found in the mountains. Rhododendrons and daisies color the bluffs and only a few miles outside the cities, lay the dirt roads that carry you into the real heart of the Appalachians…its people.
Life is simple here and folks are who they are. In the midst of the rolling hills, lay the remnants of the old circuit riding preachers –those who dug in deep to teach the word of God.
Deep in these mountains are the people who, unskewed by a warped world view, still believe. Here… folks make no bones about the seeds they plant. A man’s word is as good as his handshake and sharing what you have is “just the right thing to do.” You love your neighbor as yourself and when a man dies, you still carry food to the family, pull them close, and press their tear-smeared face against you. It’s called “comforting.”
The hillsides are dotted with plowed fields and gardens grow lush. Making apple butter is still a church tradition and singing Amazing Grace still convicts the hearts of those who really know Jesus. The love of Christ, as raw as it may seem, is sown deep into the lives of these people.
The seeds were sown years ago. The traditions raised, cherished, and protected. God, according to these people, stands watch over the valleys from the mountaintop.
Christ cast out the seed of His Word. He met the people where they were…taught them so they could understand. Some of the seed flourished while others didn’t. Still He continued to sow the word.
Though we are a people far from perfection, the Word of God is planted deep in our roots. I’d like to think it’s sown in your heart too. Cultivate it. Water and prune it. Then share its fruit to a hungry world. Accept the challenge Christ offered. Sow the seed. Nothing can happen until you do.
Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! along with Scott McCausey. Eddie and Cindy travel and speak at conferences across the country and they are available to speak at your church or conference. Contact them at cindy@christiandevotions.us.
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