Opportunity in Sowing and Reaping
This is one of the most well know verses on “reaping what we sow.” Jesus said it. It must be true.
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
(Luke 6:38)
Once people determine the harvest they desire they can decide upon the nature of the seed they sow. We will reap what we sow. When we sow in faith we are consciously participating in a cycle ordained by God. Sowing produces fruit. This harvest contains seed for future sowing.
The fruit that comes as a result of faith-filled sowing provides seed we can choose to sow.
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)
If we want to reap a revelation of God’s love what type of seed should we sow? Seed which comes from the results of a loving motivation.
There is the possibility of bad seed that, if sown, will produce bad results. Like good seed, it brings about “fruit after their kind with seed in them (Genesis 1:11b).”
Paul wrote, “the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption (Galatians 6:8a)”. Bad seed produces bad fruit which has bad seed.
If it’s bad fruit, don’t sow the seed contained within it. Throw it away. What I mean is, don’t respond to a bad harvest with rotten attitudes and rebellious actions. That’s just more bad seed that will bring about a harvest of bad things.
What if we have sown bad seed? Most have. At times we all reap the results of rotten seed.
In Amos is a prophecy of supernatural agricultural abundance. We see the same principle in our daily lives. What principle is that? All of us are currently reaping the results of past actions. How we reap what we’ve sown is, in itself, seed for a future harvest.
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved.” (Amos 9:13)
Here’s a secret: we can reap the results of wrong decisions with a humble, godly, faith-filled, attitude. As we do we are breaking a cycle and sowing actions that are humble, godly, filled with faith and faithfulness. What type of harvest can we expect from that? A good one.
I find this to be encouraging. This principle teaches me to take heart. No matter what we may be reaping there is always an opportunity to sow good seed for a future harvest.
Do you believe that if you, by faith, sow love towards others with the hope of receiving love from God, you will reap a revelation of His love? I really do. We sow, God gives the growth.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.[1] (1 Corinthians 3:6–7)
Jesus said:
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
(Luke 6:38)
Let’s sow.
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
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Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers
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