If you want to do right and to obey my teaching with all your heart, then pay close attention. Don't be discouraged when others insult you and say hurtful things.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Recently, I was channel surfing, and I stopped to listen to a message from a televangelist who was talking about “seed, time, and harvest,” a common teaching of “prosperity ministers.” I listened long enough to hear him call for 1000 people to rush to their telephones and pledge a “seed gift” of $1000 for his organization… and they were going to receive “immeasurable favor” from God in the form of great financial wealth in 2010. I had to laugh, because I don’t believe for one second that God requires specific dollar donations like this in order to answer prayers and bless His children.
We have to be careful, because Satan can use this sort of message to get us off course and focused on the wrong things. And he cleverly does this by interspersing some pearls of wisdom and solid teaching. Many cannot sift through the junk and discern the truths of God from Satan’s lies and his distractions of things like promises of immeasurable wealth. And honestly, this sort of teaching and preaching is insulting to me, because I believe God does want us to plant seeds, give Him time to work, and then expect a “harvest.” But I am not necessarily talking about money, much less “immeasurable wealth.”
In and amongst all of the pleas for a $1000 seed, this speaker did say something that I felt was important enough to repeat… Every single day, you and I are planting seeds. Our “seeds” may be words of kindness and encouragement spoken to someone. Or we may help a buddy move into a new apartment or cook a meal for a grieving neighbor. We may give our old clothes to the thrift store… or we might give money to the church or donate to a fundraiser to send kids to church camp. OR… we may sow seeds of gossip, dissention, disrespect, untruth, and hate. The choice is ours. Just like planting flower or vegetable seeds, time is needed for these seeds to take root and grow. But eventually, there is a harvest. Sometimes it comes quickly, and sometimes, it can take a long time. But we must not be discouraged. And here’s the kicker… we must expect a harvest.
I think where I have often failed is in my expectation. I have sown the seeds and forgotten them. I didn’t consciously believe God for a harvest when I wrote a note of encouragement or taught a junior high Sunday School class. I didn’t consciously recognize that I was sowing seeds in the kindergartners and first graders I taught – or the checker I smiled at in Wal-Mart. I also didn’t give much thought to the repercussions of sowing seeds of unkind words, gossip, or rudeness. If we stopped and thought about the seeds we sow – and the “harvest” – we might sow better seeds! We might also reap a better “harvest” and more fully experience God’s blessings and favor. When we expect God to show up in our lives, He surely will.
So my questions for all of us today are…
- What kind of seed are we sowing?
- Are we expecting a “harvest” and believing God for it?
©2010 Debbie Robus
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