Recognize your harvest
“But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:29
This is a puzzle to me, because I am not a farmer, but how do you know when a harvest is ready? I know that if it is fruit, you want to get it before it falls to the ground, but not too much before that because it will not be ready yet. When we plant tomatoes, I watch them very closely when it is time to pick them because I want them to be ready to eat when we bring them in. I look at the color, the size and the how easily they will come off the vine. There are many variables, but a farmer knows from past experience and from studying the laws of nature when his crop is ready to be harvested. He also knows what he will harvest because he know what he planted.
It’s a little different in the spirit world. We, as people, are continually planting seeds with our words and our actions. Galatians 6:7 says Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Whatever you are planting is what you will be seeing as a harvest. So, if you show kindness to all people, you are planting kindness and hospitality. If you are impatient and angry with others, you are planting hostility. If you are giving to others at every opportunity you have, you will see the harvest of abundance. Likewise, if you are always holding out and looking for ways to get things out of others, you will see a harvest of shortage and scarcity.
There is good news today, and it is that you get to choose what you sow. Just like the farmer decides what he wants to plant in the ground to eat or feed his livestock with, you get to decide what you will harvest by the words and actions you plant. The best way to ensure a plentiful and good crop is to line your words and actions up with God’s. He has created this world with natural laws, but He also set up many spiritual laws also. Reaping what you sow is one of them. This takes all the mystery out of why aren’t people being nice to me or why do I always get promoted in the job I do? Its because you are harvesting your actions and words to others. God’s words and directions are the seed that will yield the greatest harvest in your life. Learn them and do them and when the day is done, you can expect to see goodness in your tomorrows.
Today I want to encourage you to begin to look at your harvests. What are you seeing in abundance? Do you experience favor and grace from others or do you feel uneasy and tension from those you meet? Then take a look at your own behavior and access the seeds/actions you are planting. Decide today to sow grace, kindness, love, encouragement, and peace, and watch for your harvest to return 100-fold back to you for all your days.
Today’s reading Mark 4:26-34
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,
27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?
31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;
32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
33 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
The Daily Dose 