Sowing seeds is not a subject that most of us think about often. We are blessed to live in a country where food is just a short car ride away. Rarely do we think about the farmer that woke up at the crack of dawn, plowed the ground, sowed the seeds, prayed for the correct amounts of rain and sun to produce a harvest. This harvest must produce food for his family to eat and to provide a living. We tend to walk into a store or restaurant and WOW- food is there! Amazing!!
The past few weeks I have been meditating on the idea of sowing seeds. As Christians, we are farmers in an eternal garden. Everyday, whether we are aware or not, we sow seeds into a lost and dying world. We can sow seeds of goodness, kindness, love, mercy, hope and peace through our words and actions. We can sow seeds of strife, jealousy, gossip, and hate. We are farmers, friends, and the Lord has given me a fresh reminder for my life for 2015- be purposeful in what you sow.
When a farmer needs to grow soybeans, he plants…soybeans. When one wants corn, he plants…corn. When one wants tomatoes, you guessed it…tomatoes. So many of us pray for peace in our homes while we feverishly throw seeds of strife in the air as if the seeds don’t produce fruit of, you guessed it…strife, not peace. We desperately want Godly friendships, yet we don’t nurture, pray for, and seek to love Godly people. Instead, we sow seeds of gossip, distrust, and unkind words. We want financial blessings and stability while we worship the god of credit lines and living beyond our means. We neglect to tithe and sow into our local churches and give offerings to God. We sow seeds in infertile soil and get angry with God for not hearing our prayers.
We have somehow disconnected from our part of what God’s word teaches us in Galatians 6:7, ” Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Proverbs 22:8 teaches us, “Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster, and their reign of terror will come to an end.“
For many of us, the notion of sowing what we have reaped is a terrifying thought. We have sown forests full of prickled thorns, poison ivy, and nasty weeds. The thought of reaping what we have sown makes us cringe and want to give up hope. Here’s the amazing news: God is the great farmer. He can bring abundance to good seed, Holy seed and He can bring crop failure to the seed that we desperately need His help to let die.
God loves us so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to die for OUR sins. He loved you enough to let his seed, HIS ONLY SON, come to earth and die that you and I may live. We must learn to trust our Father to help us to plant seed in good, God-enriched soil and to yield a harvest of good in our lives and the lives of others. Many times, I have had to get on my knees, in humble, broken repentance and pleaded with a holy God to uproot the seeds I have sown. We all sow seeds we wish we hadn’t- hence the need for a Savior. Repentance is key here- we have to stop sowing seeds of death and sow seeds that give life.
As a new year begins and most resolutions have already faded, ask the Lord to help make us mindful of what we are sowing. If we are reaping weeds, it may be time to give Jesus our land, our plow, our tractor, and our seeds. He is the great redeemer and the Lord of the Harvest. It’s time for a fresh, new, life-affirming, Godly harvest to be sown and reaped.
Courtnay Aycock