God's Infallible Word

The way we view God's Word (The Bible) matters. Our trust in it, our understanding of it, and our submission to it's authority set the foundation of our Christian philosophy and so our lives. The Word of God is infallible. It is a book written by God, not about God. It is accurate, absolute, incorruptible, and trust-worthy... and without it our growth as Christians can never be healthy, stable, or fulfilling. If Satan can get you to doubt the integrity and importance of God's word... his deception will cause you to suffer loss. When you take scripture and plant it in your heart, let it germinate, and take root... it will bear fruit - guaranteed. God loves us, and The Bible is His love letter to His children. As I am writing this it happens to be a few days after Christmas 2012, and I have a prayer for all of us. As we contemplate our plans for the new year, let's consider putting God's Word at the top of our list of resolutions.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," ~ 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." ~ 2 Peter 1:20-21
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." ~ Luke 21:33

Seed Don't Grow In The Sack

Farmers everywhere will attest to the fact that "seed don't grow in the sack". If a farmer, or even someone with a little garden like mine, decided just to sit on their seed, they would never harvest a crop. Can you imagine Farmer Joe saying:

"Well I'm not too sure if the weather is gonna be good for farming this year, I think I will just hold on to the the seed I have, tuck it away in the barn and play it safe. Besides who knows, it may not even rain this year, and then if it does, it may be too much rain. We could have a bad storm, maybe hail, which will ruin the crop anyway. My Grandpa told me sometimes weevils get into the crop and eat the whole thing. Yes, I will be the smartest guy in town, saving all that seed which would otherwise have been wasted. Besides, I don't really feel like getting that old tractor out, tilling up the ground, then going to all the trouble of planting all this seed I have here. Man I know a guy down the road a piece, the government gave him a bunch of money not to plant his seed at all. I'm gonna see if I can get in on that deal. I'm just as entitled to that free money as he is. Besides, farmin' ain't never really been my strong suit. I never do that good anyway. Matter of fact everybody would probably harvest twice as much as me even if I did plant all this ol' seed. It really ain't fair."

Sounds crazy doesn't it? We can see how the outcome of this story is gonna be. Without really having to dig much deeper into the life of this particular farmer, we know ol' Farmer Joe is not gonna have a harvest. And it is nobody's fault but his.

Very similar to Farmer Joe's situation is the life of many people today...even Christians. God has set up a system of spiritual and natural laws, and while he is sovereign inasmuch as he has the right and ability to work miracles in our lives, that is really not what he prefers. He would rather we remain inside of these spiritual and natural laws, which offer his protection and blessing. When we venture outside of these we effectively give the enemy of our souls entry into our lives; and the Bible teaches us that he comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. One of these laws that God has put in place is the law of sowing and reaping, a farming term the Bible's Author (the Holy Spirit) uses to teach us kingdom principles. And He says it will never change as long as the world exists.

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

This principal of seedtime & harvest applies in the lives of everyone today. Everything we have is seed. It might be tangible; such as money, houses, cars, or any other material thing. Or, it could be something intangible; like a smile, kindness, or a talent that could be used for the good of others. Even, or especially I should say, our words and our time are seeds.  Everything is a seed, and our lives are largely made up of the choices we make of how and when to sow these seeds.

  

Now, we need to be very careful when we feel like judging ol' Farmer Joe too harshly. We do not want to condemn, because everything he did we do ourselves. What we need to do is gently restore Farmer Joe and show him a better way to go about things. We should let him know that fear of failure is no reason for him not to plant his seed. One thing is for sure, if he doesn't plant it he will definitely not reap a harvest at all.

 It is the same with us regarding our seed. If we don't sow our seeds of kindness, generosity, love, encouragement, and so on...neither will we reap a harvest of these things in our lives.

We also might encourage ol' Farmer Joe not to be idle or lazy, because that doesn't help anyone either. The same goes for us. A couple more things ol' Farmer Joe did that we might be able to help him with are covetousness, and self-pity. He saw that the guy down the road had something he didn't have and he wanted it. I am sure we did not hear the whole story regarding this other man's situation; we seldom do when someone is trying to make their own case by comparing themselves to someone else. But whether true or not, it is not our business to be in the business of wanting what someone else has.

We are called to a life of faith and trust in God. He is our provider, and anytime we begin to complain about the provision or talents he has placed in our lives, we get ourselves into trouble. As a matter of fact, we can take many lessons from the children of Israel on this topic. In Psalm 78 we learn that they actually limited God by their complaining and unbelief.

Remember what I mentioned about allowing the enemy access into our lives. If we, like Farmer Joe, decide to sow seeds of fear, laziness (or idleness), covetousness, and self-pity in our own lives; we will surely reap a harvest of many sorrows. Instead, let us encourage Farmer Joe to go out and till the soil, plant the seed he has been given...and to do it all with a good attitude, with a confident expectation that a good and loving God will bring him an abundant harvest.

 And let us be of the same mind, eagerly sowing the seed God has given us, knowing we will reap an abundant harvest in our own lives, in due time.

Seed Scriptures

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."~ Galatians 6:7-9

And he (Jesus) said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”~ Mark 4:26-29

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”~ Luke 6:38

"For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." ~ Matthew 13:12

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:6

“In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” ~ Ecclesiastes 11:6

“And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him” ~ Genesis 26:12

   “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” ~ Galatians 6:8

 “And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.” ~ Genesis 1:11

  “If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?” ~ 1 Corinthians 9:11

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” ~ Luke 8:11

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.  ~ Luke 8:5

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” ~ Luke 8:15

“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” ~ Proverbs 11:24-25

Our Spiritual Garden

It would not take long to go out in someone's garden and see what sort of seed has been planted. If you see tomatoes, they planted tomato seeds. If you see watermelons, they planted watermelon seeds. If you see cucumbers, they planted cucumber seeds, and so on...

 Well, just as it would not be hard to see what sort of seed was planted in that vegetable garden, the same goes for spiritual gardens. It would not take you too long talking with someone before you could tell what sort of seeds they have been sowing (planting) in their life; seeds of bitterness, anger, resentment, unforgiveness, self-pity…or prayerfully, seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are all fruit of the Spirit of God, and Jesus died on the cross so you and I could have it. It is the gift of God, and if you were the only one in the world, He would have done it just for you.