Sowing and Reaping

The other day I had a wonderful reminder from our Heavenly Father on His promise of reaping what you sow (I’ll get to my story in a minute).  The concept of sowing and reaping is found throughout the bible.  One such verse from Galatians chapter 6, “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  It’s a very simple promise, but one that produces powerful results in our life.  Just as a farmer must first sow a seed in order to reap a field of corn, so must we sow our seeds in order to reap the abundant life that Jesus intends for His children.  Don’t over complicate this in thinking that God is some puppet master who is trying to beat you at a game of chess.  He’s not up there waiting for you to make a move before he trickles down a little blessing – just enough to keep you coming back.  God doesn’t work like that.  He is good all of the time.  If He was a puppeteer, He would have never sent His son to wash us completely clean.    

God gives us such promises because He knows how He has created us and the world in which we live.  Let me give a simple example.  If you want to learn how to operate your new vacuum, you review the owner’s manual written by the creator of said vacuum.  He/She knows better than anyone on how that vacuum is supposed to function at peak efficiency.  The same is true for gaining instructions for this life.  God is our creator and the bible is our instruction manual.  Back to sowing and reaping - God is saying that I’ve made you and my instruction manual says this, “If you want to reap love, then sow love.  If you are in need of friendship, then sow friendship.  If you are in need of resources, then sow the resources you do have.  If you need to reap positive thoughts, sow the time into renewing your mind.”  The list goes on and on. 

Now for my original story – the Lord used this biblical principle the other day with my kids.  It was something so simple and it had to do with the words I had chosen when speaking about them.  I took the kids to the library and we were checking out.  I asked them to get their coats on and wait for me.  They did just as they were told with minimal instruction.  They went over to the bench, sat down, put their coats on and proceeded to wait for me very patiently.  The librarian said, “What obedient children!”  In my way of trying to avoid a compliment I responded in a joking manner, “They must be getting tired.”  I don’t even know if they heard me, but I immediately felt God say, “Wrong choice of words my daughter.  Those ARE obedient children because you and Marcel sow obedience in them.”  I immediately repented and realized that the words I choose to sow (no matter how simple) reap their natural intention.  The more appropriate response would have been, “Thank you.  Yes, they are obedient children!”  I would have then acknowledged in front of them how much I appreciate their behavior as well as speak words of life over them to set them up to reap further obedience in their hearts.  As you look at this principle in your own life, it’s amazing what you are reaping because of the words you are sowing.  The bible also says that the power of life and death is in the tongue.  So are you speaking death or life into a given situation?  If you are reaping dysfunction, are the words you sow dysfunctional?  Are you reaping chaos in a certain area of your life?  Could it be that your thoughts and words towards that area are chaotic?  We need to realize the power of our words and start sowing words of life.  The harvest is so sweet!