Seed, Time, and Harvest

Happy Sunday!

Genesis 8:22 says, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."(KJV).  This scripture follows God's declaration to Noah that the earth would never be exposed to this same type of judgement that occurred during the Great Flood.  Seedtime and harvest is God's way of getting resources to mankind.  Think about it this way, when Adam sinned he relinquished his dominion and control to Satan, then Satan became the "god of this world".   2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."(KJV).   As the god of this world, Satan had every legal right to starve man to death.  Our bodies are like our personal space suits.  We can't live on the earth without them, and without a human body we have no rights or authority in the earth.  Technically, if the enemy could motivate and entice man to kill each other then he could rule the earth unopposed.  BUT he will NEVER rule unopposed because the Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well!

Why do you think the enemy fights giving?  Numerous scriptures promise that when you give it will be given back to you!  But if we are honest we get a tight feeling in our hearts when God encourages us to give.  Critics can always find a story to try to prove that giving didn't work for a certain person.  Or they can find a story of an unscrupulous pastor or minister that misused or misappropriated funds in an effort to dispute what God has promised.  Where do you draw the line?  Either you trust God and His Word, or you don't trust God and His Word!  There is no middle ground!  Revelation 3:16 warns, "But you are only warm—not hot, not cold. So I am ready to spit you out of my mouth."(Easy-to-Read Version).   One version of this scripture, describes this spitting as vomit!  OUCH!  I don't want God to gag because of me, I don't want my life to be so unappealing, or distasteful that it causes Him to vomit!

Luke Chapter 5 is a familiar passage!  We come back to it often because it is full of wonderful insight that we need for this life!  People were crowding in to hear Jesus teach by the Lake of Gennesaret.  Jesus "saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets."(vs 2, KJV).  He got into one of the ships that belonged to Simon Peter.  He didn't commandeer it like the military, but he ASKED if he could use it!  Peter agreed, and at Jesus' request moved the ship out a bit on the water.  This gave Jesus a perfect spot from which to continue ministering to the people!  The use of the boat was a Seed.  Peter sowed the seed into the ministry of Jesus!  The Word of God many years before this event promised that seedtime and harvest would remain as long as the earth remained!  After Jesus finished teaching, he instructed Simon Peter to launch out into deeper water and let down his nets for a great catch!  The King James Version uses the word "draught" meaning "the act of pulling a heavy load".

Simon Peter was a businessman.  He wasn't new to fishing, this was his livelihood!  He protested.  He said, "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net."(vs 5, KJV).  You know what happened, don't you?  Simon got his harvest immediately!  So much harvest that the boats began to sink!  Luke 5:6-7 in the Message Translation describe it wonderfully!  It says, "It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch."(Luke 5:6-7, Message).  God wants to get IT to you!  Whatever your IT may be!  Give God permission to use your life and your stuff in any way that he decides.  Don't hold on to a seed or eat it and miss out on a great harvest opportunity.  

Before I let you go, remember that with sowing and reaping in the natural there are seasons.  I can't normally plant a vegetable seed today and dig up the produce tomorrow.  One minister said it like this, there is seed...time...then harvest.  Don't be tempted to give up if your harvest doesn't come in tomorrow!   Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 says, "Do good wherever you go.  After a while, the good you do will come back to you.  Invest what you have in several different things. You don’t know what bad things might happen on earth."(Easy-to-Read Version).

Love and prayers, Cynthia