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Introduction: An Unchanging
Spiritual Law
The Law of sowing and reaping is perhaps the
most deeply embedded truth throughout the fabric of Scripture, nature, and
human experience. It is a Law that operates in absolute harmony and
predictability: whatever seed we sow, be it in our thoughts, actions,
relations, and spiritual life, will ultimately come back to us multiplied and
harvested in full season. Paul states it succinctly: “Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It is an
admonition, but it is also a disclosure of the way in which God the Creator
ordained life to work.
The Origin of Sowing and
Reaping in Creation
Right from the start, God ordained the seed,
the season, and the harvest in the created world. The Book of Genesis shows God
saying that each and every seed plants according to its own kind. Apple seeds
will not produce oranges, and mango seeds will not produce bananas. This shows
the order of God; the seed equals the harvest. Our choices in life each day,
what we think about, what we seek after, what we sow, and how we treat others,
are seeds that will not produce any harvest out of their nature.
This is more than a principle in farming. This
applies to the development of character and the life of the spirit, to marriage
and finances, to ministries and destiny. The harvest will come in another
season, but it will indeed come. It has been said that nothing that is planted
in life will ever be lost but will produce fruit, good and bad.
The difference between sowing
in the flesh and sowing in the Spirit
The Bible paints a vivid picture of the
contrast between two kinds of sowing: sowing to the flesh and sowing to the
Spirit. The flesh refers to pride, greed, selfishness, bitterness, rebellion,
and sinful desires. People sow to the flesh when they cultivate those desires
and satisfy the craving in their lives, enjoying the process in the short run
but reaping the results of decay in the form of damaged relations, an empty
life, guilt, addiction, loss of peace, and God’s punishment.
On the positive side, sowing to the Spirit
means to plant the seeds of obedience, righteousness, prayers, love,
forgiveness, self-control, and holy living. The resulting seeds of life will
yield peace, power, blessings of God, a renewed mind, answer to prayers, and
the blessings of God. The sowing of the Spirit will in most cases be unseen,
but the results will be visible.
The Delay Between Seed and
Harvest
Many people find it difficult to understand the
truth behind sowing and reaping because of the gap in time involved in the
harvesting process. The farmer will not plant corn to harvest it the next day.
This process involves a period of time to complete the process of growth that
involves seasons that take a long period to complete. The effects of sin and
the benefits of righteousness take a long time to be realized.
The enemy will take advantage of this waiting
period. Those who sow seeds of sin expect the harvest to come later, and those
who sow seeds of righteousness expect their labor in vain if the reward is
delayed. God’s timing is always perfect. The Law of Harvest is unbeatable. The
only question is the season of the harvest.
Samples of Good Seeds Sowed
The planting of good seeds doesn’t only happen
in mighty religious moments. It is in the simplest things that seeds are
planted that contain the greatest power. Prayer every day nourishes the soil of
the soul. The tender works of kindness in the midst of hard-hearted individuals
are able to soften those hearts. The release of forgiveness frees the spirit.
Speaking the truth enhances and builds integrity. Giving in a bountiful way
provides an opening for the gifting of supplies.
Despite the fact that nobody sees the sowing,
God is able to see it. Secret obedience leads to obvious breakthroughs. Secret
faithfulness results in overt reward. The life of constant sowing in the spirit
leads to the life that drips with peace, wisdom, and God’s favor.
Negative Seeds that Bring
Destructive Outcomes
Just as the seeds of the righteous produce
blessing, the seeds of the sinful produce painful harvests. The seeds of anger
produce conflict. The seeds of dishonesty produce a lack of trust. The seeds of
compromise produce bondage. The seeds of lust produce regret. The seeds of
gossip produce confusion. The seeds of pride produce a fall. The seeds of
bitterness produce loneliness. We don't always reap those results right away,
but results will always be reaped.
God brings the growth from a place of brutality
but out of love and justice. God cannot bless something that kills the soul.
When a harvest of pain emerges, it tends to reveal seeds that were planted long
ago. But even in that, God brings the painful harvests to switch the course of
His children and to plant a new seed to bring restoration.
Repentance: Uprooting Bad Seeds
and Planting New Ones
The Law of sowing and reaping leads nowhere in
life if a person is bound by his past actions. God has the grace to cancel the
seeds of destruction through repentance in the lives of people. Though some
results might occur, the phenomenon of repentance alters the soil in the garden
of the heart. It ends the chain because God has the power to turn the soil of
people’s lives into a realm of testimony because of failures in the past.
Repentance is more than feeling sorry for the
past, in fact, it is a new pattern of seed-planting: “I will plant seeds that
produce life instead of death.” The choice is life, righteousness, truth, and
holiness. Slowly but surely, the “godly seeds” will begin to crowd out the old
produce, bringing a deep enough conversion to change the course of a person’s
life.
Be Persevering Until the End
Believers tend to lose heart while awaiting the
harvest of righteousness. Sometimes the “good seeds” take a long time to
sprout. Character change is a process that requires patience. Restoration of a
relationship demands patience too. An enhanced life of the spirit requires
commitment each day. The Holy Writ, however, exhorts believers to “not be weary
in well doing: for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.”
Patience is a seed too. Faithfulness is a seed.
Prayer steadfastness is a seed too. The reward that will be harvested
finally—in the current life or the next life—is worth waiting for in its
infiniteness.
Conclusion: Living with
Purposeful Sowing
In The seed and reap principle involves every
believer in deliberately living their lives. Nothing in life is neutral. Every
word is a seed. Every action is a seed. Every habit is a seed. Every thought is
a seed. The destiny of the future is not determined by chance but by the seeds
planted in the present day. To sow is to live deliberately. To sow spiritually
is to reap life. To sow righteousness is to receive the blessing of God. God in
His grace gives us the seeds to plant and the wisdom to make the right choice.
And where and how we plant those seeds, the results of the harvest season will
give us joy and peace and an eternal reward.
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