Tag Archives: sowing and reaping

March 16, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Start Planting

One of my favorite quotes says, “I don’t measure my day by the harvest I bring in. I measure it by the Seeds I plant. For in planting seeds, I’m assuring a future harvest.” There are so many applications for this quote, but the common question it begs is, “What am I doing today to make sure I have enough tomorrow?” We all love it when we reap the rewards for things we’ve done in the past, but we can’t measure our successes by that. We must always be doing something that is going to make sure we have another harvest, but too many of us hesitate because we’re waiting for everything to be just right before we act.

The problem with planting is that there are no immediate results for your work. We live in a world where we are conditioned to instant gratification, but many times the things you plant are hidden beneath the surface germinating where you can’t see. However, the longer you wait to start planting, the further away the harvest will be. Conditions will never be just right to plant for the future, but don’t let that stop you from doing what God has called you to do today. Fear will lead to hesitation, and hesitation will lead to procrastination. After you procrastinate, you begin to make excuses as to why you can’t do it.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything” (GNT). Today’s the day to quit your excuses, to stop your hesitation and to put fear behind you. The longer you procrastinate, the less impact you’re going to have. When you step out in faith and do what God has called you to do, you’re trusting Him to bless it. When you wait for perfect conditions, you take faith out of the equation. Whatever it is that’s on your heart to do, find one thing you can do today to begin planting the seeds. Those seeds, no matter how few, will always produce a greater harvest than the ones that never get planted. Stop procrastinating and start planting.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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August 10, 2020 · 5:30 AM

Broadcasting Seeds

If you’re like me, you’ve probably planted a small garden somewhere on your property. In the spring, we till a few rows in a box beside our house. We usually plant a few things like tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans. The garden is small and takes just a few minutes to plant the seeds. My son enjoys checking on them to see how they’re growing. After watering it for weeks and pulling weeds, we get to go pick the vegetables and eat them. The garden is so small we can usually put our daily harvests in one bowl. We then try to share it between three people so all we get is a taste. My son is always super proud of it, but each time we split the vegetables, I can’t help but be reminded of how small the garden is.

When I think about the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4, verse 4 always catches my attention. It says that he cast his seeds. That’s different than planting them one by one like we do. I looked up how farmers plant large fields, and that’s what they do. They have a mechanism that broadcasts seeds and then they cover them up. In my mind, I always thought farmers planted each individual seed with the love and tender care that we do in our garden. It’s no wonder that in the parable some fell on the path where the birds ate it, and others fell on rocky soil and some even fell among the thorn bushes. However, you have to know that a majority of those seeds fell into the good soil he had tilled. Those are the ones that produced the harvest yielding 30, 60 and 100 times more than was planted.

It’s got me to thinking about how I sow seeds in life. Am I only planting a few within a confined space or am I broadcasting them everywhere. You can’t expect a large harvest when you only plant a few seeds. Are you broadcasting seeds? Will you need the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers for the seeds you’re planting? We’re reaping small harvests because we’re planting so few seeds. Freely we have been given, so freely we must broadcast or give. There will be seeds sown in rocky places, but we can’t let that stop us from broadcasting everywhere we go. Jesus finished that parable in verse 9 by saying, “If you understand this, then you need to respond” (TPT). Now that we understand what it means to broadcast, it’s time for us to respond.

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December 23, 2019 · 5:48 AM

Productive Planting

Every spring there are big displays in home improvement stores selling seeds. I like to look through them to see if there’s anything we would like to try to grow. One one side of the packet you have a picture of what the seeds inside will produce. On the other side you have a map of the US, a color coded map that tells you where these seeds grow the best and them some instructions that tell you how deep to plant them, how far apart, when the best time of year to plant them is and how long it will take them to produce. The more closely you follow those directions, the more likely that your garden will produce something from the packet.

Most of the seeds we plant in life can’t be seen and aren’t physically put in the ground. There’s no packet that you can read to tell you where they will grow best, how long until they produce or when the best time to plant them is. When I was a kid, a popular saying in the church world was, “You’ll real what you sow.” To me, it always seemed to have a negative connotation. They only brought it up when you weren’t doing the right thing. While it’s true that it works for those behaviors, it also works for the behaviors God wants to reinforce in our lives. The law of sowing and reaping was instituted in during creation when the Bible tells us that God planted a garden in the east. He didn’t speak the Garden of Eden into existence like most everything else.

As Christians, we need to pay attention to the things we are planting in our lives, the lives of others and into the world. We don’t have to worry about timing, location or season. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” (TPT). The seeds you’re sowing today are not in vain. They will produce whether you think it’s the right season to plant them or not. The law of sowing and reaping can only come into affect when you plan seeds. God is the one who makes them grow, not you. Don’t hold back in planting where God tells you to or when. Your planting will be productive through Him.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

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July 30, 2019 · 5:52 AM

Planning And Preparing

Several years ago the Lord spoke a simple word to me while I was praying. He said, “Prepare.” I replied, “Prepare for what?” Again, all I heard was, “Prepare.” I said, “Lord, if I’m going to prepare, I need to know what to prepare for.” For the third time, He said, “Prepare.” I had breakfast coming up with a pastor friend. I couldn’t wait to discuss what I heard. After our pleasantries, he said, “You know what I heard God say to me the other night? Prepare.” I told him I had heard the same thing. We began to discuss what it meant, but agreed we needed to each spend more time in prayer, in reading the Bible and in holding each other accountable to it.

Preparing is a necessary process in almost everything in life that’s worth anything. The greater the task, the greater the preparation. Think about taking a test. The more significant the test, the greater amount of time you spent preparing for it. Most of the time you had an idea of what could be on the test, but you weren’t sure what the questions were going to be. You needed to prepare for them to ask you anything. Life with God is a lot like that. We need to be prepared to be used in whatever situation He chooses to use us in. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. The on,y way to constantly be ready is to prepare ahead of time what you will say.

Proverbs 24:27 says, “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house” (NLT). Too often we try to get the cart before the horse. We want the payoff without going through the process, but God’s plan is that you and I prepare for the greater things He has for us by being faithful in the small things. If you’re looking ahead to where God has promised to take you, take time each day to do the little things that will prepare you for that place. This proverb us to plan and prepare how we will be sustained once we get there rather than to focus on how we will stay there. God’s process always involves sowing first and then reaping later. If He’s being slow in keeping His promises, ask Him to tell you what He wants you to do today to prepare for your future.

Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash

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January 4, 2018 · 5:30 AM

Plant The Right Seeds

Throwback Thursday is a new feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

My son and I planted a small vegetable garden in our yard. It continues to be a source of lessons to me and him. As we were eating dinner out recently, he pulled the lemon off my drink, pulled out the seeds and said, “Here you go, Dada. We can plant these and get lemons from our garden.” At first I was impressed that he made the correlation that seeds inside of fruits and vegetables are what grow and make the plants. Then, as I thought more about it, there was a deeper truth. Only lemon seeds can produce lemons.

That’s knowledge that you and I don’t think often about. We know it as a law of nature, but not as a spiritual law. We know that if we plant watermelon seeds, we’ll grow watermelons every time. But somewhere along the line, we think we can break that law with spiritual seeds. We think we can plant seeds of discontentment and somehow reap peace. Worse yet, we think we can skip out on paying tithes and reap the benefits of giving.

The same law that causes a physical seed to reproduce itself works in the spirit realm as well. What you sow, that shall you also reap. If you want more peace in your life, sow peace into the lives of others. If you want joy, put the work in to make it happen. The great thing about seeds is that when one is planted, several are reproduced. You rarely get a one to one ratio. One kernel of corn can produce a stalk that has several ears containing hundreds of kernels each. You won’t get the benefit of multiplication until you plant the seed where no one sees it.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (NLT). He talks of giving just like a harvest from planting seeds. Whatever you plant, it’s going to be multiplied and given back to you. Make sure you plant the right seeds, cultivate the soil they’re in and your harvest will come guaranteed

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September 1, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Reaping In Joy

One of my favorite quotes is, “I don’t measure my day by the harvest I bring in, but by the seeds that I plant. For in planting seeds, I ensure a future harvest.” So many people measure their success by what they bring in each day, but their future is not guaranteed. Only by planting seeds can we make sure we will receive something in the future. In order to have seeds to plant, we have to save seeds from our current harvest. We can’t use everything we have now if we are going to be able to reap later.

Psalm 126:5-6 really stands out to me when I think about this principle. It says, “They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing. He who goes forth bearing seed and weeping [at needing his precious supply of grain for sowing] shall doubtless come again with rejoicing , bringing his sheaves with him” (AMP). It’s a verse we’ve heard all our lives, but in this version it really hits home. They’re weeping because they’re having to go hungry now in order to be able to eat later.

It reminds me of when the Pilgrims first arrived. Their corn ration was a few kernels a day. They needed to plant the rest so they could survive later. They sacrificed in the now in order to have abundance later. This concept is so opposite of our world today. We want abundance without the sacrifice. We want to reap when we haven’t planted, and that’s not the system God set up for us. I like how Dave Ramsey says, “Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later.”

I believe many of us don’t see the harvest we expect because we don’t sacrifice in the sowing. Abundance will cost you. If you aren’t willing to give up your current desires for your future successes, there’s no guarantee you’ll be bringing in sheaves. God has always asked us to sacrifice now for a future blessing. The more you are willing to sacrifice, the more of God’s blessing you can count on in the future. The choice is yours, but you have to act today for tomorrow’s gain.  

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July 21, 2015 · 7:20 AM

Planting The Right Seeds

My son and I planted a small vegetable garden in our yard. It continues to be a source of lessons to me and him. As we were eating dinner out recently, he pulled the lemon off my drink, pulled out the seeds and said, “Here you go, Dada. We can plant these and get lemons from our garden.” At first I was impressed that he made the correlation that seeds inside of fruits and vegetables are what grow and make the plants. Then, as I thought more about it, there was a deeper truth. Only lemon seeds can produce lemons.

That’s knowledge that you and I don’t think often about. We know it as a law of nature, but not as a spiritual law. We know that if we plant watermelon seeds, we’ll grow watermelons every time. But somewhere along the line, we think we can break that law with spiritual seeds. We think we can plant seeds of discontentment and somehow reap peace. Worse yet, we think we can skip out on paying tithes and reap the benefits of giving.

The same law that causes a physical seed to reproduce itself works in the spirit realm as well. What you sow, that shall you also reap. If you want more peace in your life, sow peace into the lives of others. If you want joy, put the work in to make it happen. The great thing about seeds is that when one is planted, several are reproduced. You rarely get a one to one ratio. One kernel of corn can produce a stalk that has several ears containing hundreds of kernels each. You won’t get the benefit of multiplication until you plant the seed where no one sees it.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. ” (NLT) He talks of giving just like planting seeds. I also like how the Message writes the first portion of this. It says, “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back.”

Jesus is talking about sowing a reaping in the spiritual realm. You can’t plant the seeds of criticism and expect a return of praise. You can’t plant condemnation and receive blessings. If you want an easier life, go easy on others. It’s easier said than done, but once you understand the same principle that works for those lemon seeds my son gave me works in your life, things will begin to turn around. You’ll have to make a conscious effort to think about what you want in your life and then begin proactively planting those things in others.

Just like with plant seeds, you’re going to have to work the soil, water the seeds, pull the weeds and wait for the harvest. Just because you plant the right seeds today, it doesn’t mean you’ll reap the harvest you want tomorrow. It’s going to take time and effort on your part to reap the harvest. I can tell you that the more work you put into the process, the greater the harvest will be at the end. Don’t settle for a small harvest. Plant the right seeds, cultivate the soil they’re in and your harvest will come guaranteed. 

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July 7, 2014 · 7:56 AM

God’s Garden

Recently I was talking with a lady I have known my entire life. She was sharing how her grandfather had a garden, her father had a garden and how she and her husband have a garden. She’s worried because she doesn’t see many people after her generation planting gardens. The art of digging into the earth, planting seeds in their season, watering the seeds, keeping weeds out, tending to the growing plants and bringing in a harvest is being lost. Some are ok with the thought of that being a past time, but with it goes a lot of understanding of scriptural principles too.

Whether or not people continue to plant gardens, the law of sowing a reaping will still be true. Will the next generation understand what sowing and reaping is if they never plant anything? If they never plant anything, will they understand the time and dedication it takes to reap a harvest? If they don’t understand what it takes to bring in a harvest, how can they be expected to work in God’s vineyard? Jesus said, “Pray that the Father would send laborers to work in the vineyard.” The idea of labor is hard work.

God is looking for people who are not afraid of hard work. Ones who know that to get a harvest, it takes tilling, sowing, tending and watering. People who know that just bringing in the harvest is not enough. There’s more work to be done after you bring the harvest in. Once the harvest is brought in, you have to prepare the land for the next planting season. The work of the Kingdom is like that, it never ends. It’s a continuous cycle just like the garden. We must continually be about our Father’s business. We must always be tilling, planting, watering, tending and reaping. Our work won’t be finished until he comes.

The more we plant, the bigger the harvest we can expect. My friend told me that her husband planted 18 pounds of potatoes and got 500 pounds in the harvest. Imagine if he had planted a hundred pounds! The harvest we are seeing in our churches is small because we haven’t planted enough. It’s time we began to sow the Word of God into the lives of others bountifully. We then need to water that Word with prayer. We can tend to it by having conversations that are godly and uplifting. When the time is right, those souls will be ready for a harvest. It won’t be just them, but their families too.

What are you planting into the lives of others? If you haven’t been planting, you can start today. Yes, it’s hard work and it won’t be easy. God made gardening hard work on purpose. He’s looking for people who aren’t afraid to dig in to the dirty parts of life, plant seeds of His love in their life and then shower them with blessings. It’s time we got back to the basics of what we were called to do. It’s time we started planting again because there can be no harvest if no one plants. Whose life will you sow seeds in today?

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November 27, 2013 · 7:31 AM

Reaping Where You Haven’t Sown

Today is the last day before the official holiday season. From now until the end of the year we’ll be bombarded by Christmas commercials, mall Santa’s, bell ringers and sales at every store. Everyone wants the money in your pocket because this is when we spend like no other time of year. Today, I just want to take a deep breath and relax in the calm before the crazy begins. I want to purpose in my heart that I won’t let all those other things get in the way or ruin the real reason for the Christmas season. Before I go, go, go, I want to thank the one who came.

A young girl sang a song in church on Sunday that asked the question, “Where’s the line to see Jesus?” It talked about the lines in the stores and the lines to see Santa, but where are the lines of people to see Jesus? We’re willing to camp out for great deals, stand in long checkout lines and endure cold weather, but complain when the sermon goes 5 minutes over. We wonder why our nation doesn’t turn to Jesus and we pray for an awakening, but we’ve got to wake up first.

I’m not against all the sales, standing in line or camping out. I’m just asking, “When is the last time we sacrificed for God? When have we truly given up something important for the advancement of the Kingdom?” I look at my life and wonder why there’s so little fruit, it’s because I’m planting in one vineyard and trying to reap in another. It doesn’t work that way. Not only will we reap what we sow, but we will reap it where we sow it. We can’t plant seeds of selfishness and expect to grow trees of righteousness. We can’t sow our time in things that don’t matter and expect a return in the eternal. Yet we do and then wonder why God isn’t bringing in a harvest.

If we want to have God move in our churches and nation, we’ve got to sow the seeds of time in prayer. If we want to reap a harvest of souls, we’ve got to sow effort in helping our communities. We can’t stand by the church door, ring the bells or put on amazing media presentations in the church and hope they’ll come. The law of God has always been about sowing and reaping. The Church has always understood that until this generation. We are expecting to reap without having sown. We are expecting an increase without having decreased. We are expecting gain without the pain.

Where does God want you to sow seeds in this holiday season? How can you water seeds that have already been planted? Are you ready to harvest? Look around you while you stand in long lines. You have a captive audience to plant seeds. God is looking for those who are available to work in the vineyard. He’s willing to pay full wages even if we don’t work the whole day. It’s up to us to see the opportunities, to say yes to His will and to begin planting seeds that will bring a harvest.

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