It was early morning, I had driven to my Aunt Sherry’s farm to pull corn to put away for winter.
Finishing that task, I was meandering through her garden. Something caught my eye and I stopped to take a closer look. Most of her rows were consistent. All the plants seemed to be at the same stage of harvest. Except her tomatoes, it was different from all other rows. They seemed to have tomatoes growing at all different stages. Some were just starting to grow. Some were full grown. Some were in the middle stage.
“Why are there some plants with fully ripened tomatoes, some with tomatoes just now starting, and then some with no tomatoes at all?” I inquired.
Aunt Sherry began to explain to me.
She shared that they wanted to have freshly ripened tomatoes all summer, fall and even into the winter. Therefore, they had planted differently this year.
They had planted their first set of tomato plants early. Then they waited a week or two and planted more. Again, they waited a few weeks and planted more.
“If we want continual tomatoes throughout the year, we had to plant continual seeds.”
Genesis 8:22 in the New Living Translation says, As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.
One translation says, “it shall NOT cease.”
The Word of God clearly says that if we want a continual, perpetual and generous harvest, then we are going to have to sow continually, perpetually and generously despite whatever state we find ourselves in.
The only way to change our current state is to begin to operate according to the law or principals of seed time and harvest. The law of sowing and reaping. And you must start where you are now. Today.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 says; Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. (NLT)
What does that mean? It means you cannot look at your present situation and decide you can’t afford to sow. If you want a harvest, if you want to change your financial situation, you must begin to sow. You must obey the principals of seed time and harvest.
Harvest only ceases when planting ceases.
2 Corinthians 9 says; But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So, let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
This is a foundational truth. I love the way the Passion Translation says it:
Here’s my point. A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do. Just as the Scriptures say about the one who trusts in him.
Because he has sown extravagantly and given to the poor, his kindness and generous deeds will never be forgotten. This generous God who supplies abundant seed for the farmer, which becomes bread for our meals, is even more extravagant toward you. First, he supplies every need, plus more. Then he multiplies the seed as you sow it, so that the harvest of your generosity will grow. You will be abundantly enriched in every way as you give generously on every occasion, for when we take your gifts to those in need, it causes many to give thanks to God.
God can only multiply our seed as we sow it.
My aunt and uncle wanted a continual harvest, therefore they planted continual seed. What is your desire? What do you want?
I want a continual harvest. And I want to be a hilarious giver. It reminds me of the scripture that says God looks at the devil and sees what he is doing and God laughs. I think when we sow in the midst of famine, we are laughing at the devil.
And we can laugh. Because we know what we sow we will reap. We know God is multiplying every seed we sow. We know we reap a harvest if we faint now.
May we all become hilarious givers. May giving flow from our heart. And may we always enjoy and partake of a continual, perpetual, abundant harvest.
Mediate on this:
Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him. Genesis 26:12
