Sowing and Reaping

 

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.  (2 Timothy 2:6 NIV)

the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.   (Proverbs 11:18 NIV)

The farmer sows the word.  (Mark 4:14 NIV)

Sowing and reaping is not only a law in the natural world; it’s apparently a law in the spiritual realm as well. 

My Dad was a farmer, and I grew up surrounded by fields of corn, a huge garden filled with fresh vegetables, and an orchard teaming with apple, pear, and cherry trees.  None of these things happened by accident.  My Dad worked the land: every year he tilled, plowed, fertilized, planted, and watered before gathering his harvest.  A lot of thought and hard work on my dad’s part went into each harvest.

How do we farm in the spiritual realm?  What steps do we follow to create a spiritual harvest?

If the word is in our hearts and mouths (see Romans 10:8 and Deuteronomy 30:14), do we “sow the word” by meditating on it and saying it?

One of the most powerful statements in the Bible is Deuteronomy 28:47-48, where Moses told the people:

Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness*, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies.  (Deuteronomy 28:47,48 KJV)

*Joyfulness was translated from a Hebrew word meaning blithesomeness, glee, exceeding gladness, joy, mirth, pleasure, rejoice.  (Strong 1983)

Moses had just given the people a detailed list of their Promised Land blessings (Dt 28:1-14).  Here, in the same chapter, he tells them that if they DON’T REJOICE in the abundance of those blessings, they’ll end up living with the curses instead.

It stands to reason that the opposite is also true.  If I DO rejoice in my blessings, then I will end up surrounded by blessings.  Verse 2 says the blessings will actually “come on thee” and “overtake thee!”

What a beautiful picture of sowing and reaping!

… the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. (Philemon 1:6 KJV)

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach… No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.  (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 NIV)

So rejoice with tremendous gladness of heart for any of the thousands of blessings you find in the Bible!!  Praise Him for them, thank Him for them, sing about them, think about them – rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!!!  

You will be a good, hard-working farmer, and your harvest will “come on thee and overtake thee!!!!”

 

Reference:

Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.

 

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com.  The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.