Trading Your "Cows" for Kingdom Beans

If you are not familiar with the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk... Jack is a poor boy who lives with his widowed mother. They are farmers, who own very little. Their only valuable possession is their cow. Over time, their situation becomes very worse and worse, so the mother sends Jack to town to trade the cow for much needed money. On the way to town, a stranger approaches Jack and offers to trade some magic beans for the cow. Curious and trusting of the stranger, Jack agrees to the trade. 

When Jack gets home, he tells his mother of the trade and shows her the magic beans. She is furious and throws the beans outside. Disappointed and upset, both go to bed. During the night, the tiny beans begin to grow. They grow….and grow…and grow…until they become a giant beanstalk, reaching up into the clouds. In the morning, Jack decides to climb the beanstalk. What he finds at the top changes his life forever. 

As I think of this story and how Jack trades his cow for beans, I feel like it represents what it can be like to follow Jesus. We all have precious “cows” in our lives. These represent different things, such as our time, our jobs, our security, a comfortable life, and even our very lives. As we follow Jesus, He often offers us an opportunity, like Jack, to trade our cows for some beans. The only difference is that His beans are Kingdom beans.

Kingdom beans are things that God wants to plant in our lives to produce Kingdom initiatives and impact. Unlike Jack’s beans, however, beans of the Kingdom may grow slowly, much more slowly than we would expect or desire. But as we are faithful to tend what God has given us, growth will eventually happen. We may not even know what fruit will be produced, but our faith rests in Jesus and His sovereign plan for our lives. In partnership with Jesus, we tend to our beans through spiritual practices such a prayer, fasting, Scripture, study, giving, simplicity, confession, solitude, silence, hospitality, mission, and service (to name a few). These practices may not seem to produce much fruit after a few occasions, but many months and years of tending to our beans will eventually produce a stalk that will impact our sphere of influence beyond what we would ask or imagine.

So let us follow Jesus by trading our cows for beans, believing that our sacrifice will be worth what we have traded away. And when we follow Jesus, we will not be disappointed! The beans of the Kingdom are like a mustard seed that is extremely minute and unassuming, but ultimately grows into one of the largest plants! They are like seeds sown on good soil, knowing with the right environment they will produce one hundred-fold.

So, what cows do you have in your life that Jesus is asking you to trade for some Kingdom beans? Will you trust that your hard work of spiritual growth will ultimately produce great impact in the Kingdom of God? And are you willing to enter a longer-term tending to these beans, believing at the right time, the Spirit will cause them to grow like Jack's bean stalks?

Jesus, would you show us the opportunity we have in our lives if we are willing to trade our cows for a few beans of the Kingdom. And would we step out in faith, trading our few precious cows for the limitless worth of your Kingdom beans. Amen.

You are invited to start a dialogue, so please share your thoughts, reflections and comments below.