Take Less, Give More

Have you heard the news out of Platteville, Co.? Most mainstream news outlets probably didn't report on it but I heard about it on a nationally syndicated Christian radio station. Let me start by going to His Word.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien." Lev. 19:9-10

That's what Chris and Joe Miller did on Nov.22. They own a 600 acre farm and had a bountiful harvest this year. After the harvest, they decided to open their farm to anyone who wanted to pick up what was left over of the potatoes, onions, carrots and beets. They expected 5,000-10,000 people. 40,000 showed up.

I was completely blown away when I heard this story. Most of us know people who do good deeds, but isn't this way over the top? Especially in a world where extreme greed has resulted in a failing economy, everybody wants more, more, more. The Millers might have gone over their fields a second time (I'm not a farmer, maybe it wasn't cost effective). They could have discounted the produce for anyone who wanted to pick it themselves. This is, after all, their bread-and-butter. Who couldn't use more income right about now? And they could have taken the very easy route and just let it rot on the ground, then turned under when the next planting season came. But no, they decided that they had already been blessed enough with such a bumper crop.

I don't know if the Millers are Christians, none of the news reports mentioned the Lord's instruction to do this very thing. Regardless, God has used them to affect thousands of people. I live in Georgia so I wasn't there for the gleaning, but I have been inspired by these Colorado farmers.