Reaping What We Sow

Alright, all you farmers and gardeners! You understand the inexorable, or changeless, law of sowing and reaping. Plant wheat, and you will harvest wheat. Plant alfalfa, and you will reap alfalfa. Plant cherry trees, and you will, in time, have trees that bear cherries. Plant a row of carrots, and you will have carrots for your table. Plant tomato seeds, and you will not have watermelons! The law is plain: You reap what you sow. How does this law work spiritually in our lives? There are three basic steps seen in Hosea’s prophecy.

1. Preparing the soil. The first act is to “break up the fallow ground.” (Hosea 10:12b) The idle, empty, non-bearing fields of the heart and mind need to be prepared, and become the soft, fertile soil that can accept, protect, and nourish the tiny seeds of righteousness to full production. Conformity to the Word of God, time spent in fervent prayer, and taking care of the whole person are all characteristics of what it means to prepare the soil of life.

2. Planting the seed. Hosea makes it plain. “Sow for yourselves righteousness.” Out of the prepared soil, the growing seed now produces that which defines what was planted. It also requires care and protection from the farmer. If this is not done, “the stalk has no bud; it shall never produce meal.” (Hosea 8:7b) (Read Proverbs 22:8; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Today’s New International Version.)

3. Picking the harvest. This is “reaping what was sown.” Israel sowed “the wind,” the useless seed of foolishness and self-centeredness, and reaped the harvest, “the whirlwind” of irresistible destruction. What we sow in character we will reap in character. Through Hosea, the Lord said: “sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love.” (Hosea 10:12) The Hebrew word חֶסֶֶד - ḥesed is translated in various ways. English words often used are “kindness,” “loving-kindness,” “mercy,” “loyal love,” or “unfailing love.” In Kingdom work, and in interpersonal relations, the latter seems very appropriate. Do what is right (righteousness) and you will reap “unfailing love” in return. God has promised this for His people.

1. When the Lord walks through the “fields of your heart and life,” does He find heads of grain
that are full of the kernels of unfailing love?
2. Check the fields of your life. Are there clods of resistance that need to be broken up, or
obnoxious weeds that need to be removed, so that your fields can freely receive the
planting of the seeds of eternal truth?
3. Jot down some “seeds of righteousness” you have sown along the way during this past
week. A kind word? A loving smile? A simple gift? And … you name it! And now, how about
reaping the result. It will come … it may take a little time, but it will come.