07/06/11

Here is a picture of Steve's garden. It is doing quite well this year and we are having cucumbers, squash and tomatoes coming out of our ears! Steve always does a wonderful job with the garden. He is our outdoorsy/green thumb person of the family and for that I am grateful. I did help him pick cucumbers with the kids yesterday. Considering there were insects flying all around me and a few spiders to boot, I thought I picked them OK.

Steve may have thought otherwise. :)


Speaking of gardens... when Steve planted the seeds, he didn't just eat them. He sowed the seeds and now we are reaping the harvest.

The same goes with our spiritual lives and the seeds God is planting in our hearts. Bear with me as I share what I have learned in my Bible study by Beth Moore today. Here is an excerpt from it:

Psalm 126:5,6
Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.

As we [Keith and Beth Moore] stood trying to absorb the sights and smells of living death [in Angola, Africa where people were in poor conditions and starving], our new friend, Isak Pretorius said, "One of the most frustrating things is that in villages where they receive seed, they often eat the seed rather than planting it and bringing forth the harvest." I [Beth] couldn't get the statement out of my mind and suddenly had an answer to the questions I most often ask God: Why do some people see the results of the Word and others don't? Why do some study the Word of God yet remain in their captivity?

Some just eat the seed and never sow it for a harvest.

You want examples? Why have so many of us heard hundreds of messages on freedom, done every line of Bible studies like Breaking Free, wept over them, been blessed by them, and even memorized parts of them, yet remain in captivity? Because we ate the seed instead of sowing it. Why have many of us read books on forgiving people, known the teachings were true and right, cried over them, marked them up with our highlighters, yet remain in our bitterness? Because we ate the seed instead of sowing it. Why have we repeatedly heard how Christ has forgiven our sinful pasts and sobbed with gratitude over the grace of it, yet we remain in bondage to condemnation? Because we ate the seed instead of sowing it.

Sometimes we don't even realize the difference. We'll think we accepted the teaching because we were so moved by it. But you see, the seed of God's Word can fill our stomachs and give us immediate satisfaction and still not produce a harvest - that's when we eat it but don't sow it.

Many times we apply biblical truth to our theologies without applying it to the actual practicalities of life.

I cannot say this loudly enough: God's Word is meant to be applied to our reality. We can "Amen!" the pastor as he preaches sacrificial love. We can walk to the car and comment on the great sermon he gave, drive home, and march in as mean and cold as the person who pulled out of the driveway. We decide surely God did not mean us to apply His truth to OUR reality because He knows how difficult this or that person is to love. What just happened? We ate the seed instead of sowing it.

.... I'm [Beth] concerned that many of us will eat the seed instead of sowing it. Then we charge God with unfaithfulness when we don't get the harvest He promised. God repeatedly says that a harvest is sown, not eaten as seed. We have to get down on our knees in the hardship of our circumstances and apply God's Word to the most difficult places, believing God will bring a harvest. Forgiving others, for instance, is a beautiful theology but a difficult reality. Those who apply it have a harvest for the rest of their lives. We were meant to eat from the sheaves, not from the seeds.

If we don't see an immediate result from our acts of obedience, we often decide to dig up the seed and either eat it or cast it in the nearest ditch. ..... Some of the inheritance God has promised each of us can only be received through faith and patience.

Dear One, sowing the seed of God's Word in a terribly difficult situation is not easy! But God promises you - let me say that again - absolutely promises you that if you do, you will received a harvest - and not just a harvest of any kind but a harvest of shout hallelujah joy!

This spoke volumes to me today and even brought tears to my eyes. I have been there.

Are you going through something similar?

Are you eating the seed instead of sowing it?

Pray and ask the Lord to help you have that "green thumb" so that you can reap what you sow for HIM!