“And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest” (Psalm 107:37)
If you have ever traveled through the Napa Valley or Sonoma County, California – you know that you can go online prior to your visit and plan an entire wine tasting tour. Throughout life, we are presented with many opportunities for tastings. The Whitman Sampler has been around for over a century. The ‘Sampler’ is box of assorted chocolates designed to give you a tasting of the many varieties offered. Likewise, many churches utilize this philosophy each summer when children of the fellowship are encouraged to invite their friends for a week-long program of Bible School. If the guest children have a positive experience, often times the parents are brought into the fold through other ministries offered by the church.
The motivation for all of these tastings is to sow the seed and hopefully reap the harvest. In business, it’s about growing volume resulting in increased profits. Within the church, it’s more about winning souls for Christ. Author James Allen once said, “Being a good model in the form of sowing can result in reaping Christlike changes in the lives of others.” This then is the first challenge: to be that good model for those around us. Unfortunately our society promotes selfishness rather than selflessness. We are bombarded with “Be all you can, reap all you can, for as long as you possibly can.” Scripture would instruct us differently. In Proverbs 12:11, we read: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.” Again the philosopher James Allen seems to understand this: “The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
So, “Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants” (Galatians 6:7). Nowhere are we told to stop planting, and that can become the second challenge. I once remember attending a retirement party where the person retiring had held his position for many years. Someone who was speaking about his many accomplishments looked at the retiree and said, “After toiling in the vineyard for so many years, now you finally have a chance to sit back and enjoy the wine.” At the time, I thought that this was a nice tribute, a wonderful sentiment. But when I think about the comment in reference to God’s Word, I am not sure that’s what He would desire for our journey in this life. “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” (2 Corinthians 9:10). However, we must continue to labor in the fields.
We bountifully receive when we sow well; for the harvest is always disproportional to the seed that has been planted. Just because the storerooms are full, we cannot become complacent with our harvest of abundance. “And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’ ” (Luke 10:2). Songwriter Lanny Wolfe put these words to music:
“My house is full, but my field is empty, Who will go and work for Me today.
It seems my children want to stay around my table, But no one wants to work my fields,
No one wants to work my fields.”
I don’t know about you but when my day is done and my Journey comes to end, I pray that I am able to somehow still be engaged in working the fields. For it would seem that my part is to sow all the good I can, and know with all certainty that I can leave the rest to God.
REFLECTION: Have there been times in your life that you have just wanted to rest on your laurels? If you have done so, what are the emotions that you experience during these periods? Do you feel less fulfilled? Have you ever considered whether your accumulation of abundance has created a life of complacency rather than a journey for service?
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