A Good Harvest

This is the season for the harvest — of certain crops, anyway.

If you have ever done any gardening, however, you know that everything doesn’t come ripe at the same time.  Each type of fruit or vegetable has its own season for harvest.

In my garden, asparagus is probably the first thing I harvest.  It comes up early in the spring.  Then some of the herbs start to leaf out, and volunteer cilantro pops out of the ground from last year’s seeds.  Strawberries are ready to harvest not too long afterward, then raspberries.  Kale, tomatoes, sunflowers, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes (not necessarily in that order) all produce in their own season; some of them, over a prolonged season, will keep producing until the first frost.

I used to read 2 Corinthians 9:6,7 and understand it to mean the giving of money for the spread of the gospel for a harvest of souls, which is one application of the passage.   And when I read it in full context, I understood that its actual meaning was the seeds of money sown for the needs of the extremely impoverished Christians.  It 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.”

But, I’ve observed over time, and especially recently, that there are other seeds that can be sown, and the same principles still apply.

What about seeds of kindness that we sow in the lives of our families and friends?  What if we sowed some of those seeds of kindness in the lives of acquaintances, neighbors, even strangers, as God leads us?  Wouldn’t it be amazing to see what kind of “plants and flowers” would pop up in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our churches, and elsewhere?

Kindness sown in good ground, watered and given enough sunlight will follow the same laws of sowing and reaping that God put into place for gardeners.  Sow sparingly, reap sparingly.  Sow abundantly, reap an abundant harvest.  Oh, and do it with a cheerful heart and willing spirit, and God will be delighted with you!

And, what about seeds of friendship, gentleness, helpfulness, service, love,  joy, peace-making, patience, goodness, faith, prayer, faithfulness, self-control, and other spirit-filled, self-denying seeds?  As my good friend, Alexis, would say,

“Same. thing. Baby!!”  🙂

So, here’s the thing:  if you plant one good seed, you get one plant.  You may get anywhere from one flower and piece of fruit to multiple flowers and pieces of fruit, each one with ten or twenty or more seeds that can be planted for the next harvest season.

So, if you’ve been waiting for God to give you friends, go sow some seeds of friendship.  If you’ve been waiting or wishing for some kind of change in a relationship or in your world, go sow some seeds of that kind of change that you hope to see.  Don’t wait any longer for the other person or people to take the initiative to make the first move.  YOU be the “gardener” in this garden of life.

• Sow the seed. GENEROUSLY.
• Water with love.
• Provide the warmth of caring and the sunlight of God’s Word.
• Pull the weeds in your own heart, not in theirs.
• Do the hard work.
• Pray for God’s blessing.

Then rejoice in the abundant harvest that God will bring about in His perfect time!

Linking up with:

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