Many people have heard the statement, "You reap what you sow." Or, as my wife learned when she was making drapes for a living, "You rip what you sew." When it comes to sowing and reaping we often fail to enjoy the blessings that God has for us because we don't fully understand this law. Some people refer to it under different names, but some also recognize that this is the law of laws. Understanding how this works can help us create the kind of life we desire.
Galatians 6:7-10 says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."
The first thing is that Paul; the writer of Galatians, does is to clearly tell us to stop being deceived. We need to avoid the mistake of believing that the circumstances and conditions we see in our lives are all external to us, that we are just victims and "god" is picking on us.
In the NIV, Proverbs 19:3 says, "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD." And Paul is simply restating this fact. Many people ruin their lives by their own actions, their thoughts, words, and actions, and then get angry with God.
When we recognize that the circumstances and conditions of our lives are the result of our own sowing, we will finally be able to take authority over them. As long as we remain deceived, and continue to blame God instead of taking responsibility for our lives, we remain powerless to change things.
We are sowing seeds with every thought, word, and action we take. Most of the time we are completely unaware of what we are sowing, and we end up sowing a lot of weeds in our field (our lives) rather than good seed. And we also lose heart too soon, and grow weary, because we don't see results from our sowing. But Paul reminds us that we will reap, as long as we don't give up.
In our fast-food society, it's easy to forget that all the ingredients that go into our Big Mac didn't just magically appear out of thin air. A farmer planted seeds and worked patiently to protect them and help them grow until it was time to harvest them. The beef on our hamburger didn't drop out of the sky; it was born and grew up in a field.
And because we don't live on farms, we have lost touch with the reality of the seasons, sowing seeds, tending fields, and harvesting crops. But when it comes to faith, we need to get back in touch with them, because our thoughts and prayers are the seeds that we are sowing and that we will reap in our lives.
When Jesus taught about the kingdom of God, He often used parables that were based on farming. He didn't just do it because He was talking with people who were farmers, and using farming illustrations would make more sense to them. He did it because they accurately describe how God's kingdom works.
The book of Romans also talks about the fact that God's wrath will be revealed against all wickedness, because people don't have any excuses. Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
Everything we want to learn about God, we can learn from looking at His creation. We still need the Bible because it is a lot easier to read about God than to try and figure Him out, but we have to realize that the way in which things work in nature are just reflections of how they work in God's kingdom. Just like there are seeds, fruits, and harvests in nature, there are spiritual equivalents.
When it comes to sowing seeds in our lives, there are a few things that I learned from working on my lawn. The first problem is that don't like gardening, and I usually don't know what I want. And if I don't know what I want, and I just let things grow, I'll get weeds, and that definitely isn't the best thing. But this is how most people live their lives. They are ignorant of the law of sowing and reaping, they believe that life happens to them, and their yards, or their fields, are full of thorns and thistles.
As part of the curse that God pronounced on man after Adam sinned, He said, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field." Because of man's sin, we no longer have the benefit of being able to simply tend a lush garden that brings forth its fruit for us to enjoy, we must now work for it. And not only that, but we have to work against what naturally grows, thorns and thistles.
But God hasn't made it impossible for us to have what we want in our lives. We just need to be clear about the results we want, and then work in faith towards those results. Nature teaches us that weeds will grow if we do nothing, but that we can create a bountiful harvest if that is what we want, and we sow the right kinds of seeds.
A friend of mine was a landscaper, and he taught me a valuable lesson about having a lush lawn, I just didn't pay much attention to it :-) His philosophy was, "If you want a nice thick lawn, keep sowing grass seed. Eventually, the grass will be so thick that nothing else will be able to grow." That is a good philosophy, and Ecclesiastes 11:6 agrees with him. It says, "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well."
The harvest that we will reap in our lives from the seeds of faith that we sow will require us to focus on what we want. We will need to sow our seeds in the morning and the evening. We will need to keep sowing good seeds, the thoughts, words, and actions, based on our faith in God and the expectation that He will give us a wonderful harvest. But, as Galatians 6 tells us, we need to be careful that we continue to sow and not grow weary, or give up, because we don't see results right away. Remember, the kingdom of God is like a field where we sow seeds; it's not a vending machine.
Let's take a look at a parable that helps us understand how this works.
The Parable of the Sower
The parable of the sower is important because Jesus told his disciples that they needed to understand it in order to be able to understand all the parables (Mark 4:13). Most of the teaching that I've heard on this parable center around preaching the Gospel, but when we look at it from the standpoint of faith, and how we sow the seeds of our faith through our thoughts, words (prayers), and actions, we see that we can learn a lot about how to create what we want in our lives.
All of us have to realize that we sow too many bad seeds in our lives. We gripe and complain, and we may even brag about all the problems we have to endure in our lives. I've seen people sitting around in a group, competing with each other, to see whose life is the worst.
When we say things like, "I can never get ahead, something always happens," we are really sowing seeds based on the beliefs that we have about our lives. It's not that we try to ignore the bad things that we are reaping in our lives, the negative consequences of our bad seed, but we need to be completely honest and truthful. For most people, the truth would sound more like, "I have not been able to get ahead up to this point, and bad things do occasionally happen, but God is greater than my circumstances, and He brings blessings into my life everyday."
Some people might say, "Well, I don't believe in all this positive affirmation stuff." But that statement is an affirmation, because affirmations are just statements that affirm, or make firm, what we believe. The best affirmations are ones that reinforce the truth of God's word, and we should be careful to change what we say so that it agrees with the Bible.
In order to change the seeds that we are sowing, most of which we do without even thinking about them, we have to start paying attention to the thoughts, words, and actions, that we are sowing. And we need to make a commitment to always look for the good in every situation. And, when we say things, be sure to avoid words like "never" and "always." Using broad generalizations like that are simply ways of affirming negative beliefs, unless you want to say, "God will never forsake me, and He always helps me find the answers I need."
Seed Along The Path
Jesus starts this parable by saying, "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up." (Matthew 13:3-4) When He later explains the meaning of the parable to the disciples He says, "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path." (Matthew 13:19)
When it comes to our faith, the first problem we all have to face is our own lack of understanding about God and His kingdom. The seeds that we are sowing are being sown in our hearts, so what is in our hearts, what we truly understand and believe, determines the kind of soil that is there.
And when it comes to understanding God, and what we believe about Him, the first principle we need to grasp is faith. Hebrews 11:6 says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
If we are to avoid sowing our seeds along the path, we need to understand that God is who He says He is. His love and His power are infinite, His kingdom is within us, and all that He has for us is available to us when we seek Him with all our hearts. Nothing is impossible for God, and when we understand that, believe in it, and seek Him, it will bring joy to His heart and strengthen our faith.
Seed On Rocky Places
Jesus goes on to say that some of the seed fell on rocky places, and because there wasn't much soil, it grew quickly, but then withered and died because the plants had no roots (Matthew 13:5-6). This is what it's like for us when we have a little faith but too many doubts, or rocks, which get in the way of the seed. Jesus said, "But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word (faith seeds), he quickly falls away." (Matthew 13:21)
There have been many times when I've prayed for something, but God has taken longer to answer the prayer than I had wanted, or some problem or trial came along, and my faith withered and died. Or other people have said something that discouraged me, so I gave up.
Too often, we let circumstances and what others say influence our faith. We have a hard enough time bringing forth a good harvest because the ground (our hearts) is full of rocks. If we then add our own negative self-talk, and even negative people who discourage us, it's easy to see why so many people never see much fruit when they pray. They gladly pray, even rejoice that God is going to answer their prayers, but then trials and discouragement start scorching their faith and it first withers and then dies.
James 1:2-4 tells us that we should rejoice when we face various problems and trials because we know that our faith is being tested. It is the testing of our faith that helps us develop perseverance. The promise in James is that once we have added perseverance to our faith, we will be mature and complete, and that we will then lack nothing.
In order to overcome the rocks in our lives, we come back to the concept of preparing the soil. Whenever we find rocks of doubt, we take them out with the truth of God's word. The work for us is to become aware of, and remove, all of the doubts in our hearts. Those doubts are made up of lies that we have learned, and believed, throughout our lives. Once we remove the doubts, which is a process we go through when we meditate on His word day and night (Joshua 1:8), our faith fill find better soil and be able to grow.
There have been many times when I've wondered if I have suffered lack in my life simply because my faith had no roots. Because I lacked perseverance in the face of doubt and discouragement, my faith failed and I suffered. But I'm glad that the parable doesn't stop here, even though there are some other problem areas that Jesus wants us to know about.
Seed Among Thorns
One of the first things we can learn from this farmer in Matthew 13 is that we should never give up. His seed fell on the path, on rocky ground, and he still kept sowing. But the next seeds he sowed fell among thorns, and Jesus said, "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." (Matthew 13:22)
When our seeds fall among the thorns it's because we fail to recognize that it is God who answers our prayers. He is the one who supplies all our needs. It's not the world; it's not even our jobs. If we begin to worry about how we're going to solve our problems, or start blaming the economy, the government, or anything else for our lack, we are worrying too much about our circumstances and we are forgetting God. When we trust God, we realize that He is more powerful than anything else in our lives.
The worries of this life are all about looking at this physical world, and fearing that we have to solve our problems with what is available to us in the world around us. We worry because all we see is a bad government, a worse economy, and a lousy job. We look around us, and all we see is a shortage of resources and opportunities. Rather than using our faith and seeing God's power, like David did when he faced Goliath, all we see is a heavily armed giant and no way to defeat him.
Because of our faith, we are not limited to what we see in the physical universe. It is God who helps us. There are no circumstances that He can't overcome, no problems He can't help us solve, and no questions that He can't answer. But we have to look to Him, not to the world, for help. If we focus on how we can solve our problems in our own strength, it will choke the fruit that God could have easily brought forth in our lives.
The other problem that can cause our seeds to become unfruitful is if we let wealth deceive us. We get deceived when we think that we were able to bring about those blessings in our lives on our own, when we believe that it was our strength and education that caused us to prosper.
In Deuteronomy 8:17-18 God warns the people about the deceitfulness of wealth when He says, "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." Remembering that all our blessings come from God, and being thankful at all times, will help our seeds bear fruit.
There is only one source from which we receive all our blessings, even our very breath, and that is God. Because God is the one who gives us everything, we never have to worry about it running out, there is abundance available to everyone. But we severely limit our ability to receive from God's abundance when we are ungrateful and forget that everything is a gift from God.
To avoid limiting God's blessings in our lives, we need to learn to be thankful. When we remember that God has blessed us, and praise and thank Him for everything, even the problems, we open the doors to receive greater wealth than we could ever create on our own. We remove the thorns caused by the deceitfulness of riches, by developing a habit, and attitude, of continual gratitude.
If you've ever wondered what God's will is for your life, it's summed up in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Seed On Good Soil
As farmers sowing our seeds of faith, we need to be mindful of the soil. When we understand that the ground no longer yields it's full strength, and that thorns and thistles will grow unless we purposely sow other seeds, we realize that preparing the soil is one of the most important things we can do. The seeds we sow, no matter how good they may be, will not bear fruit unless they are sown on good soil. And we determine how good the soil is by deciding to prepare it properly.
Like any farmer who comes on a field that has been allowed to grow wild, we first have to determine the boundaries of the field. Then we go through and remove the rocks, the weeds, and the thorns. After we've finished preparing the soil, then we plant our seeds. It's simple; all we need for a good harvest is good seed and good soil.
The seeds that are sown on good ground are the ones that are sown with the understanding of who God is and that He wants to reward us and answer our prayers. They are seeds that are sown with the understanding that the trials we face are perfecting our faith so that we will never lack anything. And they are the seeds that we sow remembering that nothing is impossible for God, there are no circumstances that He can't overcome, and it is through His power that we are blessed.
But when we sow our seed on the good soil, it doesn't mean that we will get immediate harvests. Most people think of faith as something that calls down fire from heaven. They see it as lightning that flashes across the sky, when in fact it's seed sown in the ground.
Mark 4:26-29 says, "He (Jesus) also said, 'This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.'"
We will never totally understand how God answers our prayers, and that's not the point. Any farmer can tell you, "It just grows." And that is how it will be with our seeds of faith, as long as we don't keep digging them up and wondering why they haven't sprouted yet. Patience is needed, and greatly rewarded.
But Jesus also gives us hope with this short parable. He tells us that even though we don't know how God answers our prayers, we will see signs that He is in the process of answering them all along the way. God will encourage us as long as we look for the signs, which will be small at first, that He has heard us. Allow the confirmations that God brings to help you recognize His hand working in your life, and be patient enough to let the seed mature and ripen, because the harvest, and the answers to our prayers, will definitely come.
When we understand the parable of the sower, and apply it to how we view our faith, and the seeds we sow in faith through our thoughts, words (prayers), and actions, we will see that God blesses us abundantly. He will return to us thirty, sixty, and even a hundred-fold. Our seeds will bear much fruit and bring glory to Him when we continue sowing into the good soil of our hearts.
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