Ask any farmer or gardener if what they plant matters to their outcome, and you will very likely get a look of disbelief. Since their livelihoods depend on results, they plan ahead. Unfortunately, many of us continue to make random, often unwise decisions in our daily lives and then wonder at the catastrophic consequences.
Entrepreneurs invest in ideas, property, employees, and supplies to establish a profitable business.
Math teachers point out that you will reach an incorrect solution without inputting the required numbers into any given formula.
Athletes, students, scientists, educators, parents, pastors, even politicians —everyone who invests their time and energy into a sport, project, research, education, children, or the life of a community — recognizes that in order to reach the desired outcome, you must take time to “plant” seeds that will lead to the results you wish to see.
The Bible is filled with reminders that we will harvest the results of what we sow:
• God — the ultimate Judge — is not deceived when our actions do not align with our professed beliefs (Galatians 6:7, 8). We earn eternal recognition — good or bad — based upon our choices while living on earth.
• Our rewards (reaping) correlate directly to the effort we put forth in times of sowing (2 Corinthians 9:6).
• Ignoring the needs of those who need our love, time, and energy will result in our own spiritual poverty (Proverbs 21:13).
• Generous people who willingly share will find themselves blessed as a result (Luke 6:38; Proverbs 11:24, 25).
Not being much of a gardener, I often rely on friends whose plants and crops are thriving when it comes to questions about what, when, where, and how to care for vegetables or flowers. In the same way, believers should seek the fellowship and support of their spiritual brothers and sisters in order to grow their faith. By worshipping, studying God’s Word together, and learning to live in obedience to Christ, we are sowing seeds that will produce an eternal harvest.
Don’t like the behavioral and verbal dandelions that seem to fill your life? Decide now to change what you grow by changing what you sow!
mpaxson99@yahoo.com
