Seeds

2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

2Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

The allusion is to the act of sowing seed. The idea is, that when a man scatters seed in his field God provides him with the means of sowing again. He not only gives him a harvest to supply his needs, but he blesses him also in giving him the ability to sow again. Such was the benevolent wish of Paul. He desired not only that God would supply their returning needs, but he desired also that he would give them the ability to do good again; that he would furnish them the means of future benevolence. Barnes notes.

When a sower sows seed, the harvest contains more seed to sow again. One seed produced many seeds, perhaps thousands, perhaps more. Sowing sparingly reaps a spare return, and bountiful reaps bountiful. From the investor is a harvest, but also more investors are given.

Jesus gathered 5 loaves and 2 fishes of all the people. These became enough to feed 5000 and gather 12 baskets back. How generously is it multiplied back to us! (Usually not as quickly as Jesus though). It’s almost unbelievable! Nevertheless, the kind of seed sown weighs heavily on the kind of return we get. Sow bread and fish and out comes bread and fish.

If we sow blessing we get it back, if it is cursing we get that. If a little, we reap a little. If done with pure motives it reciprocates with pure motives. If done in evil, you guessed it, comes back in evil. If we sow the true nature of God, we get it again. If we sow mercy we harvest the same. If we sow respect we will reap respect, and whatever is our need, sow it, and we get it back from others.

Everything God gives comes from a pure heart of grace. Is this how we give? If not, our “conditional” giving will reap conditional response. How, when, where, why, and what manner all enter the equation. “To the merciful, God will show Himself merciful, to the froward, froward.” This is Psalm 18. A challenge awaits us. Truthfully, we must give as God gives or reap something else.

How do we do this right? “Sow to yourself in righteousness; reap in mercy,” (Hosea 10:12). What else? “Break up the fallow ground, it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Fallow ground hardens itself; must be plowed, or seed will fall by the wayside and gain no root. First, we direct our sowing toward the big “me” and if it refuses to “take,” we gotta cut up the clumps, extract the rocks, pull the weeds, and fertilize.

Are we getting the picture? The principle of “reaping and sowing” remains intact, the problem lies with the quality of seed planting. So, in review, four things we have talked about: (1), sowing a lot or sowing a little. (2), scattering the right kind of seed. (3), sowing inward that precedes the outward sowing. And (4), insuring that we are shelling out valued stuff in the right way by putting excellence in. Capice?

God invests in His creation: His return establishes for His own pleasure what He has built and invested in. Our investments, active or passive, also make our creation a permanent one and with degrees of influence and popularity. Our world, or field, acted on by our scattering of seed this way and that, is growing. The best version of a man-sourced-creation reflects God’s, and to this end we give diligence. We labor to show ourselves approved, to enter His rest, to make our calling and election sure, we study to be quiet.

Mostly, we have learned to let God have His way in building us to build others. Yes, He will do the work if we allow Him, and when we refuse, He still works. Thank you Jesus! When we have cooperated willfully with God’s program we have become like Him for He is meek and lowly of heart, and we find rest for our soul.

Second to the last close; “unless the corn-of-wheat fall into the ground and die,” it cannot bear fruit – it’s a ball of “alone.” In death, there comes life. Maybe our life seems to be in decay, but O, don’t panic. When God finishes forming my life as a seed to feed others, and then plants me, results are eternal. They exemplify a reproductive ability; they reproduce their self and the process flourishes in a space-time-continuum, (as opposed to sub-space anti-matter, ha,ha.) What all the trek lingo means is: The Fruit Remains! We protect our field from thieves, liars, and murderers. We build walls, we erect a tower, we study our enemies. Birds, rabbits, ground hogs, and pests make up some of these. These natural anti-gardeners point us to supernatural opponents and foul spirits.