5 Things To Remember About Your Harvest
In the church world, everyone at some point or another has been promised a harvest, prayed for a harvest, or at least heard of a "harvest". The Bible was written in a more agriculturally based society. Most of the people who will read this blog, don't live in such a society. We are living in a technological age, where information is the medium of exchange. The modern church is using the ancient example to explain the idea of giving, and specifically giving financially. We may understand money (at least a little bit), but most of us have no idea the significance of the seed and the harvest.
If you have been praying to God for a financial harvest, here are 5 things you should know and remember:
A harvest is the result of strategy - Any significant return on a seed is pretty much always the result of strategy. In other words, to receive a harvest you must have a plan. Knowing the quality of the soil, as well a watering schedule, are just a few things that a sower needs to have laid out. Hardly ever does a farmer stumble into a harvest, and neither will you.
The harvest is always greater than the seed - As a sower you cannot hoard the seed and still receive a harvest. You must be willing to let the seed go, knowing that the harvest you will receive will always be more than the seed sown. In order to produce the harvest, the seed can't be in your hand.
Harvests are meant to distribute, not to consume - Malachi 3:10 promises that the ancient tithers would be blessed beyond their capacity to receive. This same principle applies to you. Every farmer around the world eats from his own crop, but can in no wise eat the entire crop. His efforts are meant to benefit many others, because his harvest would spoil and rot before he could consume it all. If we receive a financial harvest, we must see it in the same light. As a sower, you must distribute your harvest in ways to benefit others, or else your harvest may spoil YOU.
Harvests always contain more seed - Inside of every harvest is more seed to plant, because the blessings of sowing are to be perpetual. Receiving the harvest without planting more seed will cause ultimately bring grief and sorrow. So in order to continue the benefits of the harvest, the sower must change his mindset from a consumer to a producer; with the understanding that the most value lies in the seed itself. Genesis 8:22 says, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest shall not cease. (New American Standard Bible)” Lord, help us to desire the harvest for the seed, and not just the seed for the harvest.
Only God controls the harvest - Yes. As a sower there is work to be done, plans to lay, and strategies to execute. But at the end of the day, you don't control outcomes. God controls temperatures, weather patterns, and rain fall. We must participate, but God ultimately decides what your seed will produce.
Every week, I tell our church that I'm praying for their harvest. But more than that, I pray that we all have the wisdom and understanding to maximize it.
© 2016 Derek J. Murphy Enterprises, and I AM KINGDOM Publishing, All Rights Reserved
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