SOWING
AND REAPING: Devotion for Sunday September 11,
2016
Text:
Ecclesiastics 11:1 – 6 Memory
verse: v 6
Sowing does not necessarily mean planting seed
only. It is much more than planting. It involves working in a bid to earn a
living and giving out what we have in anticipation for something better. It involves
investing into something. An example of sowing is investing your time towards the
service of God and humanity. When you spend your time in the service of others,
you are sowing a seed or making investment. Such investment has rewards that go
with it.
So many people are afraid of sowing for so
many reasons. Ecclesiastics 11:4 gives insight into reasons why people do not
want to sow seed and it is one reason some people don’t pay their tithes too. Tithing
and sowing are similar. The wind mentioned in our bible reading for the day could
be the house rent, school fees, car maintenance, new clothes, development of a landed
property, etc. All these are some of the things people consider and become afraid
of sowing seeds or what people consider as more important than sowing a seed.
Sowing is the only way to reap and to have. You
can never reap without sowing. That is very impossible and we cannot avoid sowing
seeds because it is what we need to have what we desire. The quality of what
you reap is determined by the quality of what you sow as seed. If you sow sparingly,
you will certainly reap sparingly. Therefore in sowing, consider these 1. Is what you want to sow, of good
quality? Good quality here means what is appreciable. If what you are sowing is
not of good quality, you will not reap in good quality (Gal. 6:7–10). 2. Where you sow your seed determines
what you will reap at the end (Luke 8:4–8). The best place to sow your seed
should be where you will expect reward from God. These include the church (God
and His work), the poor, widows, orphans, the destitute, priests, etc (Prov.
19:17). 3. Consider your motive for
giving (Matthew 6:1–4). Let it not be to please man, get recognition or in
anticipation of a reward from recipients. Summarily, the advice in Eccl. 11:6
should be our guide as we go into the world this week. Sow a seed this week and
definitely God will reward you abundantly.
Food
for Thought: Certainly,
what we sow is what we will reap. If it is sparingly, you will reap sparingly. If
you sow bountifully, you will reap bountifully.
Prayer: Lord, may I sow the good
seeds always in words and deed.
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