You Reap What You Sow

2 Corinthians 9:6
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

You get out of life what you put into it. The Buddhist calls it Karma, the idea that whatever you put out in life will return back to you. As Christians, we believe that when we are intentional about sowing that God is intentional about giving us back what we have sown. It is not by happenstance, but through the intention of faith that we sow seeds through our giving to help others that God in turn helps us.

The image that Paul uses is of a farmer sowing seed. When the farmer sows seed, he has to make sure that he:

1. Sows on good ground. The ground must be fertile and able to multiply the seed that was sown in it. Good ground is any church that is doing progressive ministry and missions locally and abroad. Be careful sowing seed in a church that hasn’t made an effort to make the community or other people better.

2. Sow plenty of seed knowing that some of it won’t work. When Jesus told the parable of the sower. He mentioned that some of the seed would fall on rocky ground, some on hard ground, and some would be choked out by weeds. The reality is that even when you do good by giving money to people or organizations sometimes that money might appear to get wasted. But what you do for Christ will still get multiplied no matter what they do with the money. God rewards your giving, not how well they manage what you give.

3. Be patient with the Seed that made it in to good ground. Once you plant seeds, it takes a while for them to grow. We can’t expect God to bless us over night with a harvest. Keep planting and be patient, your harvest is coming.

4. Reap the harvest. Once God gives you your harvest, it’s not just for you. We are blessed to keep on being a blessing to others.

You can’t reap a harvest eating your seed or being stingy with your seed. You have to make up your mind ahead of time where and how much you are going to sow. There is always something else that could get your seed, but it's only when you are intentional about sowing in God’s field by giving to the poor, paying your tithes, or helping a charity that God sees your faith and multiplies it.
As a result of swing, the seed here is God’s promise to you:

10 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. 11You 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.

Dear God, thank you for giving me seed to sow and bread to eat. Show me the right fields to sow into so that I may reap a harvest for my family and continue to be a blessing to others. You have been so faithful to me and I praise you for providing for me over and over again.

In Jesus Name.

Amen.