The United States has a lot of the best farmland in the world. With only 7 percent of the world’s population, we have over 17 per cent of the world’s arable land, and the Midwest contains some of the richest soil anywhere. Some corn fields in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa produce more calories per acre than any other crop anywhere. The only soils that come close are in the Ukraine and the humid Pampas of Argentina. Growing up in Indiana I knew this, but a recent vacation gave me a strong reminder. 
 Paulette and I have just returned from a dream vacation.  With two other couples, we toured Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks in a rented van. We first flew to Omaha, where we were picked up by the first couple, who live in Wayne, Nebraska. The other couple live in Spearfish, South Dakota; we drove there the next day, where we started our journey. From the plane going to Omaha we saw a seemingly never ending solid quilt of soy bean and corn fields; both were green, but the quilt pattern came from the fact that the corn tassels gave the corn fields a slightly rust tinge. On the drive to Spearfish, we saw the fields up close, and perceived just how productive they were. The quilt pattern only had two colors.  Since the land in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska is so rich, very little is devoted to lesser value crops such as wheat and hay.

 As we were driving along, I marveled at the bountiful crops and felt proud. Seeing all the grain also made me recall the “amber waves of grain” line in the wonderful song “America.” In recalling more of the song I remembered the lines:

  America! America!

  God shed His grace on thee

which made me realize that gratefulness rather than pride was the correct emotion. I had done nothing to create this wonderful soil, and it truly is a gift. We are in this wonderful land through God’s grace and not by our own doing. Finally, I realized that the same is true in our lives as Christians. We sometimes become prideful, self-righteous, or judgmental of others, rather than thankful for God’s grace bestowed on our undeserving selves.  Read Romans 3:21-28, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

 
Jim

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%203:21-28