2 Samuel 11-12, 18-19
1 Chronicles 22, 29
Psalms 23, 32, 51

A bag full of seeds and a bag full of weeds look very similar. You might not know it just by looks, but when they start growing, one of them will turn into fruits and veggies and the other will grow into weeds. One of them will produce something you can eat, enjoy, and that will nourish you, filling up your stomach. Those are good seeds. The other will grow into a mess of sweat-producing work that you’ll have to pull them out of the ground. Those are bad seeds.

Our life is filled with planting seeds. Not the literal seeds that you get in bags, but when we do something, we plant a seed. That then causes another thing to happen: something grows. 

Here are some examples: Maybe you worked hard on a school project (planted a seed), and you got a good grade (it grew into an A+)! Maybe you’ve been physically working (planted a seed), and your body grew healthier. Or maybe you’ve been spending a lot of time with a friend (planting a seed), and your relationship grew stronger!

Think about something that you’ve put a lot of effort into, a “seed that you planted” in your life.
What is that seed? What grew out of what you planted?

David’s life was full of planting seeds. Some of them were great things! Like volunteering to fight Goliath or choosing to live faithfully as God’s next King of Israel. These are seeds that David planted and that grew into great things for both him and the people around him.

But Some of the seeds David planted weren’t good. One time, David chose to plant a really bad seed in his life. In fact, he chose to do three things that God said specifically not to do. To make things worse, he tried to cover up those bad choices so no one would know about it. But the seed was planted and bad things grew out of them. David’s house was filled with violence, bad choices, and one of his sons even died all because of his sin, a very bad choice.

Sin in like a seed. When we live in a way that God says not to, we are planting a seed. What grows from that seed isn’t good. In fact, it can be painful to you, hurtful to others, and damaging to your relationship with God. 

Sin is a seed you don’t want to plant. If you do, something will grow out of it.

Have you done something in your life that you knew wasn’t the right thing to do? 

How did you feel after planting that seed? What grew out of that choice? 

What seeds are you planting in your life right now? God tells us in his Word that there is a right way to live. God gives us rules to follow and guidelines to live by. He even gives us the Ten Commandments as concrete rules not to break. When we go against what God says, we are sinning.

Just like David, every one of us struggles with sin. Even though we mess up, sometimes in small ways, or sometimes really big ways, we should try to live like the Bible says: “Love the Lord your God, keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.” (Deut. 11:1) We won’t always do it perfectly, but we can keep trying to plant good seeds so that what grows around us is honoring to God and shows love to others.