Reaping and sowing

“Now I say this, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully.”   2 Corinthians 9:6

  I am sad to see the winter go, but I do enjoy being able to plant a garden in the spring. I started my tomato, pepper and flower seeds several weeks ago in our greenhouse. I planted a few Roma tomatoes. Why? Well it is simple; we wanted some Roma Tomatoes to be able to can. I couldn’t plant a pack of zinnia seeds and expect to get any tomatoes. Flowers don’t quite taste the same in spaghetti sauce. I also planted a few banana and jalapeno peppers.  Personally I like their taste over the taste of cucumbers and cantaloupes in our salsa, but that is just me. You see I knew what I wanted to reap or harvest, so that is what I planted.

 In our verse, the Apostle Paul is encouraging the Church at Corinth to support mission work. He was telling them about a great need that the Church in Jerusalem had, and he thought that they would want to help. They lived in a prosperous city and had many of the blessings of life and Paul wanted to see them be a blessing to someone else. He was explaining to them that they could not hold back God’s blessings for themselves and expect God to continue to bless them.

 Reaping and sowing is one of the simplest concepts in the Bible. Most children can understand it .Yet it is often the most ignored. Anything that we put our time, money, energy, effort or focus on is an act of sowing.  Reaping on the other hand is the results or the consequences of what we have sown. Good or bad, we will reap what we sow. Stinginess with resources or time should never be a part of a Christians walk. Many of God’s children are guilty of sowing their money sparingly toward God’s work, but they will spend it generously toward their wants.
Paul is not only reminding the Corinthian Church but us also that God will only continue to pour out His blessings on the faithful believers.

​ Reaping and sowing doesn’t only apply to our finances. “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble…. A generous man will himself be blessed.” Proverbs 22: 8-9a. We are reminded that the decisions that we make also have results or consequences. With every word that we say, every thought that we have and every action that we take we are sowing seed. Good or bad. If you want God’s hand on you, sow righteousness to those around you. If you want God to bless you, be a blessing to others. If you want God to encourage you, be an encouragement to someone else. But if you want calamity, live like the world. If you want distress, sow seeds of pain. If you want a life of thorns and snares, treat others less than the way that you would want to be treated. Scripture is clear. The choice is yours.