by Bob Dees

Every farmer knows you need to plant to produce a harvest. Investment precedes return. Start with the smallest of seeds to grow the biggest of plants. Plant in the Spring, harvest in the Fall. We must sow if we are going to reap. We understand the principle well.

The mantra for Army Athletics is “On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields will bear the fruits of victory,” an insightful quote by General Douglas MacArthur. A like-minded quote is “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The point is that we must plant seeds of preparation to harvest excellence in execution — in the military, in athletics, in farming, and in life. We get what we pay for, we reap what we sow.

Jesus has a lot to say about sowing and reaping in Mark 4. While laying out the parable about seed which falls on various types of soil, he concludes “8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Jesus goes on to interpret the parable by explaining how the kingdom of God grows from a small seed into a plentiful harvest:

26 And He (Jesus) was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Apostle Paul stated this principle succinctly in Galatians 6:7 — Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Joseph also understood the concept well — in several ways. He humbly understood that his labors as a rejected family member sold into slavery, an accused servant, and a betrayed prisoner were all preparation for his role as a protector for the nation Egypt and the people Israel. In essence, he paid his dues (seeds) on the “fields of friendly (and not so friendly!) strife” that were harvested by God in later years at a time of national crisis. As well, Jacob directly observed the principle of sowing and reaping as he planted and stored during years of rich harvest so that he would have provisions for his people in the lean years of famine.

Respectfully in Christ,