I used to have my son plant a small garden each spring to teach him about sowing and reaping. When the plants would come up, I would point out that only what we planted came out of the ground. The same is true in life with what we plant with our money, our time and effort. Sometimes we sow into an idea, a ministry, a company, a person or ourselves. Where we sow matters as much as what we sow. It’s important to work the soil, to feed the soil and maintain it. We also experimented with planting one seed in each place verses multiple seeds. There are so many things to consider when you’re sowing and reaping, but when it comes to our lives, we rarely take that much interest unfortunately.
Samson was a person in the Bible most known for his strength. He was a miracle baby brown to an infertile woman who showed a lot of tears and prayers (Judges 13). From his conception, God ordained that he would be a Nazarite meaning he had special rules to live by. However, he began sowing into the wrong things. He sowed seeds into his fleshly desires rather than into the things of God. He decided to marry a Philistine rather than an Israelite. While he still had his strength and he was still used by God, his life was in shambles because of where and what he was sowing. It eventually became his undoing. Seeds eventually grow up and produce a harvest in our lives, and that’s what happened to him.
Galatians 6:8 says, “If you plant in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you plant in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life” (GNT). Where have you been planting in your life? Have you been giving in to your flesh or God’s Spirit in you? Think about the harvest you want to reap in your life. It’s not too late to change what and where you sow. God always gives us a choice, so it’s important to be intentional about the seeds. You may not be given physical strength like Samson, but your spiritual strength will increase as a result. The field you plant in is where you will harvest. Look at your life today to see where you have been planting. Ask God for wisdom going forward and don’t plant sparingly with your seed if you want a greater harvest.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 