Theme Scripture: Genesis 8:22 says “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease”
Other Scriptures: Genesis 8:22, Malachi 3:8-11, Luke 6:38
The Law of Sowing and Reaping affects spirit, soul, and body. It might be easiest illustrated by our physical bodies.
Example:
If we exercise regularly and choose a healthy diet, our bodies will reflect that by being strong and healthy. If we choose a sinful lifestyle, our bodies will reflect that too. Sowing seeds doesn’t change our past, but it can change our future.
The following can be considered as seeds?
- Love (1 Corinthians 13)
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Words – positive or negative
- Finances (Malachi 3:8-11)
- Activities – Giving your time to help in planned activities / at church
- Attitudes – example attitude of generosity
- Our values – display sample
Example: If we sow positive seeds in our attitudes, such as an attitude of generosity, the Bible says we will reap the generosity of others. The success of our future is determined by the seeds we are sowing now.
We must understand that the law of seed time and harvest is at work whether we realize it or not and therefore we have to be mindful of the seeds we are sowing now, so that our future will bring a good harvest.
Every seed that is planted must be received by faith
Whatever we see manifested in the world and in our life today began as a seed. When we sow a seed, put it in God’s hands, God graciously and mercifully send the miracle that we need based on our faith. Everything in life starts with a seed
Culture barriers and how to overcome them
We live in a culture where we have become accustomed to getting what we want immediately — With the push of a button the TV come on immediately; we stick our food in the microwave and in seconds it’s ready; we demand super-fast internet speeds where with a click of our mouse we move from one webpage to the next instantly.
Unfortunately, this carries over into our spiritual lives where we want an immediate return on what we do for God— But that’s not the way it works in physical farming or with spiritual sowing and reaping.
What must we learn?
A. We must learn to exercise faith that God is at work even if we can’t see anything happening
1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing [by faith] that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
B. And we must learn to exercise patience
Galatians 6:9 (NKJV) “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
So we will reap good things if we’re patient and don’t give up sowing whether we’re talking about sowing the gospel, finances or simply sowing into our lives of obedience to God in general.
But this also works in the negative
The person who is living with their boyfriend or girlfriend; or the person who is having an affair; or taking drugs or is involved with internet pornography or messing with the occult. They make the mistake of thinking, “Nothing bad has happened to me so far, things are going good in my life, so what I’m doing can’t be wrong.” That’s a lie from the devil We need to understand that just like in farming, what we sow today you won’t reap today—the harvest comes late, the same is true in our lives.
If I sow irresponsible or sinful actions in my life today, I may NOT reap the consequences until later—sometimes years later when the lung cancer shows up or the cirrhosis, or AIDS, or the marriage fails or your world caves in.
You don’t reap before you sow—you reap after you sow or, if we’re talking about sin, while you continue to sow but it often doesn’t happen right away. And again the classic mistake many people make is thinking that because they aren’t suffering any negative consequences now and in fact seem to be being blessed by God—what they’re doing or how they’re living must not really be wrong.
The reason they are misinterpreting their circumstances is because the goodness and grace of God often aren’t removed immediately from a person’s life once they start down the path of sin. But make no mistake—God is not blessing you in your sin—He might be blessing you despite your sins because He wants His continued goodness and blessing in your life to bring you to repentance.
But don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you can violate anything God says in His word and not eventually reap the consequences.
You will reap more than you sow
If you plant one apple seed, you will get an entire apple tree with many apples on it each containing many seeds. If you plant one grain of wheat you will get a whole stalk containing many grains of wheat. In fact, Jesus Himself said in John 12:24 (NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
The seed has to die first before it can produce
Jesus here is using a farming metaphor to teach a spiritual truth—that if we live our lives for ourselves, we will not produce any fruit for the Kingdom; but if we die to self and live for God, we will produce much fruit for the Kingdom.
The Lord put it this way in Mark 8:35, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it”. If a person seeks to save their life now (reject Christ and live for themselves) they will lose eternal life in heaven; but if they lose their life now (receive Jesus, deny themselves, and live for God) they will save it and spend eternity in heaven with the Lord.
Let us look at a Scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:6 regarding finances
The Bible says; “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”. In this Scripture, Apostle Paul was applying this principle to giving. He is essentially saying that we can’t out give God—if you give to Him with the right heart, He will take it and multiply it.
A good example of this was the little boy who gave his ‘sack lunch’ of 5 barley crackers and 2 small, pickled fish to Jesus who then multiplied it and fed thousands of men, women, and children. Remember—the harvest we will reap in heaven will far exceed what we have sown here on earth.
Here on earth, we serve the Lord for 30, 40, 50 years—but in heaven we will reap an eternity of blessing—however the same is true for the unbeliever. The laws of sowing and reaping applies to everyone including unbelievers.
Conclusion
- What are you sowing in your life today and are you going to be happy with what you’re going to reap down the road in this life and for eternity?
- Why don’t you fall on the ground and die to self now by repenting and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
- Start sowing a life of obedience to Him now you so you can reap blessings forever.
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