Gus decided to move the food bus to a different location! He moved the food bus to the desert and parked by a recreation path.
There would be many hikers, bikers and horseback riders who would want to buy some food. Gus wanted to decorate the area around the food bus, so he stopped at a store and bought some flowers to plant in the desert.
Gus wanted to plant some of the flowers by the recreation path, but the ground was so hard that he could not dig it up, so he just left the flowers in their pots and put them beside the path.
He planted some of the flowers in the rocks, they looked so pretty in that spot.
There was a clump cactus growing close to the food bus, so Gus planted some flowers in the middle of the cactus.
There were some flowers left over, so Gus planted them in a big flowerpot and put them beside the food bus.
There were many people who stopped at the food bus that day, and Gus was busy all day! At the end of that busy day, Gus closed the food bus and went outside to look at his flowers. He was in for a big surprise! Almost all his flowers were gone! The flowers by the edge of the road had been eaten by horses while their riders were buying food from the bus. The flowers planted in the rock had died because it had been very hot and there was no water for the plants in the rocks. The flowers planted in the clump of cactus also died because the cactus took all the moisture from the ground and the flowers did not get any moisture. Only the flowers in the big flowerpot by the bus were still alive, they had good dirt and plenty of water!
That night Gus thought about his flowers, and it reminded him of a parable that Jesus told.
In the Bible in Matthew 13:3-8 it says:
Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Gus realized that his flower planting was just like the parable that Jesus told, some of his flowers got eaten, the flowers in the rock died from the heat of the sun because they could not get water, the flowers in the cactus had gotten choked out and died, but the flowers in the big flowerpot lived because they had good dirt and water.
Gus wondered what he was supposed to learn from this parable, he found the answer a few verses after the parable.
In Matthew 13:19-23 it says:
The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.
The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Gus wrote in the Gus-Bus Eternal Journal:
I have been so blessed by God! I have had so many chances to get to know God better! The parable of the seeds speaks to me because I am like all four kinds of seed at different times.
Sometimes when I go to Church or read my Bible, I don’t really pay attention, Satan snatches God’s Word from me because I was not really listening.
Sometimes I get so excited about God, I feel like I could go out and conquer the world for God! When my emotions change or I get discouraged, my excitement for God dies and I ignore God for a while.
Other times I spend all my time worrying about what other people think about me. I wonder if I am wearing the right clothes, listening to the right music, saying the right things, or playing the right games on the computer. All this worrying takes my focus off God, and soon I find myself ignoring God again.
There are times everything in my friendship with God is going great! I am focused on Him, learning about Him, and living for Him! I pray that God will help me always to live like this. At the end of this life, when I stand in front of Jesus, I want to hear Him say to me. ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant!’