September 22, 2008
Kingdom of God
We
belong to the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God operates on spiritual
principles and laws—one such law is sowing and reaping. It is important to
understand how this law works if we want to see a particular harvest in our
life.
The
kingdom of God is all about sowing. When Jesus was teaching in Mark 4, He begins
by telling the parable of the sower. In verse 26, He says the Kingdom of God is
as if a man should sow seed on the ground and how the harvest always comes.
Then again in verse 30 He asks, "To
what shall we liken the kingdom of God?” He goes on to explain it is
like a mustard seed being sown and becoming greater than all herbs.
God
has shown us by example that this principle works. John
3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.” He
sowed His son to reap a harvest of souls. Isaiah
55:11 says, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not
return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper
in the thing for which I sent it.” When God sows His word—it brings
forth a harvest of fruit.
Galatians
6:7-9 says,
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will
also reap. For he who sows to his
flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of
the Spirit reap everlasting life. And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do
not lose heart.”
This
scripture is full of information! First, whether
someone is a believer or not, God’s principles and laws are in operation. No
one gets away with sowing and not reaping a harvest in that same area. Also, we
need not think that we are ever being unproductive spiritually. Whether we sense
it or see it, obedience and spending time with the Lord will
bring a harvest! We simply must persevere, endure, and fight the good fight. Our
harvest is a guaranteed spiritual principle. We would be foolish not to
take advantage of the fact that we can deliberately do good works and reap good
things in our life or give up before our harvest.
Sowing
and waiting for a harvest takes faith. Faith pleases God. The more you sow, the
greater your harvest will be! Luke 6:38 says,
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same
measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
2 Corinthians 9:6-12 says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Sowing
is all about giving out and not keeping for ourselves. If he can trust us to
give, then He wants us to have more.
There
is even more good news about sowing and reaping! God even gives us the seed to
sow—
2
Corinthians 9:10-12 says, “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for
food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the
harvest of your righteousness. You
will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's
people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” He
gives to us so others will benefit, but we, who sow will grow in righteousness,
have everything we need, and God will receive all the glory. If you are a giver,
God can use you to be an answer to prayer for other’s needs and God receives
praise! Wow! Can you see why the enemy tries so hard to keep people from giving?
Think
about the widow who gave her last meal to Elijah. By faith, she sowed all she
had and gave to someone else. God continued to provide for her needs. Peter and
John went to the temple and spoke to the lame man asking for alms,
"Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Acts 3:6-7
God
sows into us, so we will sow into others. He fills us up, so we will give out.
When we are empty, he fills us again. The harvest is guaranteed!
One
seed sown can produce a tree bearing much fruit with many seeds. A bag of seed
can produce a grove. God is a multiplier! What have you sown lately? Your
harvest is coming!
Janet
Fairbrother