Whatever you sow, you reap. That’s true in farming; if you plant corn seeds, you’ll reap corn. It’s true in relationships; if you plant seeds of kindness, you’ll eventually receive kindness in return. And it’s true with your time, your energy, your finances, and every other part of your life.
So how do you sow seeds that reap a good harvest? Here are seven biblical principles to help you invest your life in what matters most:
1. Everything starts as a seed. Every great thing starts as a small idea—and then grows. Job 8:7 says, “Though you started with little, you will end with much” (NLT).
2. Whatever you sow is what you will reap. In other words, what goes around comes around; whatever you give out is what you get back. Planting is an act of faith; you trust that something you bury in the ground will eventually yield a harvest. Galatians 6:7 says,“You will reap exactly what you plant” (GNT).
3. You always reap in a different season from when you sow. There is no instant success; there’s a delay between when you put in the effort and when you get the result. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says,“For everything there is a season . . . a time to plant and a time to harvest” (NLT).
4. You always reap more than you sow. If you put one corn kernel into the ground, you get back a whole stalk with ears of corn and hundreds of kernels. Mark 4:8 says,“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times” (NIV).
5. You can increase your harvest by planting more seed. That’s because you reap in proportion to what you sow. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (NIV).
6. To reap the harvest, you must be patient and not give up. You have to focus on the long-term harvest, not the short-term pleasure. Galatians 6:9 says,“So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest” (GNT).
7. The time to start planting is now. Nothing is going to happen until a seed is planted, so the sooner you start sowing, the better. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says,“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest” (NLT). I pray Daily Hope is helping you invest your life in what matters most: knowing God, loving others, and growing in faith. If God has used Daily Hope to encourage you, I’d love to hear from you at Rick@PastorRick.com.
