Word of the Week - Sowing and Reaping
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
In last week’s “Word of the Week” I shared on 100x soil in the context of being a force multiplier, see below. We serve a God of multiplication who desires for us to be force multipliers in reproducing what He has done in us. This is the essence of discipleship. “Therefor go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20 One of the greatest privileges and opportunities we have as Christ followers, especially as we grow and mature in our faith is to share what God has done in our lives with other believers. After walking with the Lord for the last 24 years, I am at a stage where I am seeing God do multiplication on much of the seed I have sown over the past 24 years. I am enjoying this phase of life more than any I have experienced to date, and I believe the best days are ahead. I am excited as I have ever been about my opportunity to sow seed to see what God will do. Much of my life and ministry is simply sowing seeds into others. Based on my experience with God, I now know that I know that He will “do immeasurably more than I could ever imagine by His power at work” Ephesians 3:20. This is why I love sharing on the topic of Sowing and Reaping!!
The principal of Sowing and Reaping is one of key biblical truths of life both on earth from a practical sense and in heaven from a spiritual sense. Whether we like it or not, got set this principle in place such that we will Reap what we Sow over the course of time. Just like many of God’s principals within His divine economy, this is a wonderful truth that can really be a blessing if we understand it and align our lives accordingly as noted in my opening remarks. The potential impact of our lives can be immeasurable if we steadily sow good seed over the course of our lives, especially if we are sowing seed into good soil.
Like for Like - If you have lived any amount of life, you have a general understanding of how this works, we reap what we sow. If we Sow seeds from the tree of life (Jesus), we will Reap good seeds, like for like. Of course, if we sow seeds of death (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) we will reap the same. This is why the most important part of this process is to make sure our hearts are right before God, and we are filled with the spirit of the living God. You cannot share and reproduce what you don’t have; we will reproduce who we are. To reproduce the abundant life of Jesus we must be born of the spirit of God by surrendering our lives to Jesus then foster our relationship with Jesus by abiding in Him. He then transforms us into His likness, and then He begins to produce much (reproductive/multiplicative) fruit in our lives. This fruit is simply the biproduct of our intimate connection to the vine of Christ. “I am the vine, you are the branches, if you abide in me, I will abide in you and you will bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15:5
God controls the outcome – Our job is simply keep sowing Good Seed into Good soil - Life is not perfect and there are times when we may be Sowing good seed into what we believe to be good soil, but we are not seeing fruit. We cannot control the outcome, but we surely can resolve to continue Sowing good seeds and look for good soil to Sow into. This is the opportunity we have each day, and over time, the sum total of our Sowing is what results in the fruit of our lives. On the contrary, if we Sow bad seed then we can expect Reap the same. For example, good healthy life disciplines such as eating well, exercising regularly, getting good sleep/rest and building healthy relationships generally will result in a healthy person with good relationships, whereas lack of discipline such as poor eating, neglecting health, not exercising, bad habits such as excessive drinking or use of drugs and neglecting or mistreating family and others will lead to destruction, brokenness and ultimately death. I think we have all witnessed this to some degree or another in our lives or in the lives of those around us.
Kingdom Sowing - The Lord makes it very clear that when we Sow seeds into His Kingdom through prayer, worship, giving, serving, loving, sharing the Gospel with others, and disciple making, and we do it with pure motives, then we can expect to Reap a harvest both on earth and in heaven. Moreover, God’s is so awesome that He multiplies the harvest. “So let us not grow weary of doing good (sowing good seed), for in due season we will reap, if we don’t give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10
Integrated Living - It is important as Christ followers that we live integrated lives. We don’t try to separate our “Christian ministry” from our “Secular life” these things are not mutually exclusive. I think some believe that we can only Sow one dimensionally in life. We are either Sowing into our vocations/business or into our faith through religious church activities. This is a lie from the enemy. God never intended for us to separate these things. As believes, our identity is first and foremost in who we are in Christ. We should invite Jesus into every area of our lives, especially as we are sowing our seeds. One of the most exciting truths I ever discovered was the fact that God desires for us to integrate these things together. We have the opportunity every day to get a twofer. We can serve people in our vocations whether it be customers or employees both practically and spiritually. We don’t have to separate the two, we can Sow seeds of life/faith by practically serving them with excellence while at the same time building a personal relationship that would allow us to minister to them as they navigate the challenges of life. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”. Colossians 3:23 Living a fully integrated life is how we walk out the Gospel of Jesus in our day to day lives – this is our ministry.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9
Let’s continue sowing good seed into good soil and see what Gid will do; He promises us an amazing harvest both here on earth and for eternity in heaven!!!!!!!!