In nature the yearly crop cycle involves a season of sowing crops and a time of reaping them. That cycle is so obvious it almost seems childish to mention it. Yet it is so profound the Bible highlights it for us.
“While the earth remains seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot” Ecclesiastes 3:1,2
We even refer to Sowing and Reaping as a Bible principle given to us by God. That principle informs us how to be wise and diligent in managing our lives.
There are many who wish they could make things happen as and when they want them to. They can be like the child who planted a seed then went back the next day to dig around it to see if it was sprouting yet. Such impatience is out of place, as things will take their time and work according to the natural principles God put in place. Adding more water and fertiliser may have some helpful effect, but the process of germination and growth has its own steady rate that we have to be patient with.
So one of the lessons of the Sowing and Reaping principle is the patience of a farmer who waits for the crop to grow and mature.
“Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until the crop receives the early and latter rain.” James 5:7
When I was studying investing I heard the term ‘investor patience’. One of my sons came up with an obvious saying to summarise what investor patience is like. He said, “It takes a year for a year’s worth of interest to accumulate.”
Seedtime and Harvest is the natural cycle, not ‘get rich quick’! While wealth can come in many ways, the yearly cycle of sowing and reaping is not a snatch and grab way to get wealth. Those who want to jump the queue and get ahead quickly are warned by wise King Solomon.
“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who is hasty to be rich will not be innocent.” Proverbs 28:20
The principle in Seedtime and Harvest is one that works for those who are faithful and diligent. And it is a wonderful promise of growth and progress.
Because there will always be a new season of sowing, followed by reaping, then again by sowing and more reaping, we can learn how to work along with that and grow our crops and reap the blessings.
If we are lazy, hasty, slothful, distracted, foolish or abandon the cycle of things, we will miss out on planting and miss out on the harvest.
Seedtime is the time when we plant. There are many seeds we can plant, apart from a crop in a field. Seeds can be of learning and knowledge, and of investment and input, and of witnessing and preaching. The principle of Sowing and Reaping prompts us to keep on sowing, whenever and wherever we can. The more we sow the more we can reap, in due course.
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening keep at it: for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both will turn out good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6
Those who are diligent in building their business will automatically sow more seeds of promotion and energy into what they are doing. They are the people most likely to succeed, because they are employing a Bible principle.
Harvesting is also a significant thing since the crop won’t wait forever. If we are slack about bringing in the grain it rots and is lost. That is why King Solomon lamented about the kind of man who won’t get up and work in the harvest season.
“Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps during harvest is a son who causes shame.” Proverbs 10:4,5
When the season for harvesting comes, that’s not the time to go on holiday.
While there is a natural cycle of seasons, so you simply can’t sow at the wrong time of year, and you have to wait for harvest time, that is not the case universally. You can always sow some things, like righteousness, love and friendship. You can always sow the Gospel seed into people’s hearts. God can give you a harvest of blessing and peace, salvation, deliverance and rest outside of the natural calendar.
If you are sowing the wrong things at the wrong time you will suffer the consequences. What you sow is what will grow, so don’t go sowing bitter, angry, selfish or proud things in your life and family.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap.” Galatians 6:7
If you are reaping a harvest of futility, broken relationships, lost opportunities, frustration, negativity and so on, then maybe you’ve been sowing all the wrong things. It’s time to start sowing faithful and righteous things.
Wonderfully, by coming to God with a humble and repentant heart, God can wipe out whole crops of weeds in our lives. We can then start planting much better seed.
So, while the Seedtime and Harvest cycle is a given, it is something we each need to take stock of. What are you sowing and what are you reaping? Are you diligent in sowing the right seeds, or are you lazy and distracted? And when the harvest comes, are you also diligent? Are you planning for your next crop, or just stumbling from day to day?
The principle of Sowing and Reaping is no secret, but maybe it’s a bit too obvious for some people to stop and consider.
May your heart be opened to God’s wonderful wisdom and may you become diligent in sowing the right things and reaping the best harvests, in the fear of God. And may you be blessed as you diligently take advantage of Seedtime and Harvest.
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