principle is this, "You reap what you sow." It's a basic principle governing the whole of life that we learned from agriculture and farming. You plant the seed in the ground, and if it receives proper nourishment eventually, usually, you reap the rewards. When we sow good seed we can expect good fruit, bad seed brings bad fruit.
It's true not everything in our lives is the result of what we've sown for ourselves ,but everything, or nearly everything, we sow will yield something for ourselves or for someone else.
There are two important corollary principles to this general principle. The first one goes like this, you reap what you sow, but it's always later. You don't plant the seed today, and today or tomorrow, you discover a harvest. That's not the way it works. It takes time, and that's why this principle can be frustrating and deceptive.
Sometimes it requires patience, sometimes vigilance.
The second corollary goes like this, you reap what you sow, but it's always greater. The sowing and reaping effect multiplies over time. The more you plant, the more you reap, both for good, and for bad; for better, and for worse. Last week we talked about this principle when it applies to our character, and we learned that as we make prudent, wise, and right choices in building our character, we can expect blessings in return.
Jesus teaches that those who sow mercy and forgiveness find mercy and forgiveness in their lives. Those who sow charity or peace can expect charity and peace in their lives.
Today, we want to look at how this principle of sowing and reaping applies in our finances because it turns out, you reap what you sow when it comes to your money as well! To understand this truth we're going to look at a story from the first book of Kings which is a book of the Bible in the Old Testament.
The first and second book of Kings tells us the stories of all of the kings of Israel.
The story we're looking at today takes place in Israel where there was a great prophet, named Elijah, and a corrupt king, named Ahab, who led the people of Israel into the worship of false gods as well as other reprehensible practices.
And so God sent Elijah to challenge the king, predicting a three-year drought over the country, a consequence for the people's sin. Well, challenging the king was a dangerous thing to do for sure, so God told Elijah to go to a place called Zarephath where he would find safety, security and provision. A provision would be provided, he's told, by a widow there. That would have been unexpected news since widows in that culture, at that time, typically lived in poverty.
But Elijah is faithful, so he goes to Zarephath, and the Bible tells us as he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was carrying sticks there. And he called out to her, "Bring me a small cup full of water to drink."
She left to get it, and he called out after her again, "Please bring along a bit of bread." So he expands the request.
"As the Lord your God lives," she said, "I have nothing baked. There's only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks to go in and prepare something for myself and my son, When we have eaten it, we shall die." The poor widow not only can't provide for Elijah, but she's almost out of food for herself and her son. In that moment, she doesn't know what else to do.
Elijah gives her another option, "Do not be afraid," he said, "Go and do as you proposed, but first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord God of Israel says: “the jar of flour shall not go empty nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth." Elijah tells her first of all not to fear.
Follow your plan to prepare food for yourself and for your son, but with a slight alteration. Prepare the food, but first give a portion of it away. In other words, he asked her to believe in the harvest principle. Give away some of what you have now in return for the promise of all you'll need, moving forward.
So she made some bread with a little bit of flour she had left. and she gives the first portion away to Elijah. Here's what the scripture tells us happened. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well. The jar of the flour did not go empty nor the jug of oil run dry as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.
So the principle of the harvest: she sowed seeds of abundance out of her pittance. By giving away what she had, she got all she needed and more. It just came later and greater. So how does the harvest principle apply to money? The wisest use of money is to sow seeds with it, and there are two ways that we can do that.
The first way, the most important thing we can do with money, the most strategic thing we can do with money, is give it away. You see, Christ followers don't give, thinking that they're losing something. Christ followers give, confident that they're gaining something; the Harvest Principle.
Scripture tells us over and over and over and over again that not only are we not diminished when we give, but we'll reap benefits in proportion to our giving. Giving is investing in our eternal future.
We can build treasure in heaven. Jesus preached this all the time, over and over again. He urged us to build treasure in heaven, and we do that by giving, giving to God, first of all, by giving to his church and giving to the poor.
The goal of our giving is to reach a sacrificial place where God has promised to bless, both in the time ahead, as well as right now. The second way that we win with money is by saving and investing.
While giving is sowing seeds for our eternal future, saving and investing is sowing seeds for our immediate future and the immediate future of our family and our children. When it comes to money, give first, save next, and then live on the rest, spend the rest, but spend within your limits.
So as I close out this message today I want to address three different audiences that are with us here in our congregation.
First, for students and young adults, start these habits and practices early, as in now, right now. Perhaps you don't have very much money, but you don't have very many expenses either, at least not in comparison to what you'll have in the future. Start sowing good seeds now, when it comes to giving and saving, with whatever you have now, and you'll be doing yourself a favor. You'll be setting yourself up for success when you're earning more.
For those of you who are successful when it comes to money, or blessed in worldly ways, I'd like to challenge you too.
I'd like to challenge you to reexamine just how well you're doing, in the giving part, as compared with the saving and investing part. Is there balance there?
And third, finally, to those of you who are struggling with money, if you want to turn your financial situation around, I invite and encourage you. I urge you, in fact, to prioritize giving and saving. I know, it seems counter-intuitive to give away money, or to save money, when you have so little and you need so much. But it really is the best way to solve your problem and to invite God into your finances.
God is actually willing to step in and help you with your finances if you're willing to begin in obedience to what He has to say about money.
You reap what you sow, you reap what you sow later and greater. It's a truth we do well to recognize and to honor in our lives. It's a fact that can help us unpack and understand what's happened to us in the past and to learn from our personal history.
Think of it as a tool that you can use to your advantage, to leverage for your future. Where do you have that nagging feeling that you aren't sowing the right seeds in the right direction? Where do you feel that prompting to start sowing different seeds or better seeds?
Is it your health, your finances, your marriage, your kids, your relationships, your relationship with God. Take that to prayer, and start talking to Him about it.
Because as important and powerful a reality as is the principle of the harvest, it's important to acknowledge another reality that's more powerful and vastly more important. It's the principle of mercy and grace. The principle of mercy and grace trumps everything.
And that's why you are not defined by your past. You are not the sum total of your mistakes, and your missteps, and your misdeeds, you're more than that. You're vastly more than that. You are daughters and sons of God. And you can start sowing a different harvest, a better harvest, a great harvest.
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