the seeds we sow

Several years before Mike, my first husband, passed away, he planted six or seven blackberry plants out behind an old shed of ours.  He weeded and watered these plants daily, making sure that they took root so that they could grow into healthy berry vines which produced many berries. He had been given these plants from a dear preacher friend of ours and it was very important to Mike to keep them alive. Plus, he was really looking forward to gathering his crop because we really liked to eat homemade blackberry cobbler with Blue Bell ice cream.
These plants did take root and they did grow.  But Mike didn’t live long enough to see the fruit from his work.  The plants didn’t start producing until the summer after Mike passed away.  So although Mike did all the work, it is his family that has reaped the benefits.  We have certainly enjoyed them every summer since they started producing.  As a matter of fact, this summer, my children and grandchildren have been picking four cups of berries almost every day. Amazingly, Blakeleigh, my six year old granddaughter wasn’t even born when Mike planted the plants.  But now she may be just the one who enjoys them the most, whether fresh off the vine or baked in a hot berry cobbler.  We have all enjoyed several delicious berry cobblers (thanks to Erica) and there are several bags in the freezer so I am sure we will be enjoying them all winter.
Thinking about how we are enjoying the fruits from what Mike sowed, I am reminded of what the bible tells us about reaping what you sowed.  In Galatians 6:7 it says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  Job 4:8 continues with “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” When we consider these verses, we tend to think of the wicked things that men do. We believe that if one does wicked things, he will pay for it sooner or later.  In fact, in Hosea 8:7, it is written, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it has no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” This verse tells us that men will reap much worse than what they sowed.
But what if we turn this around and think about it from a positive view?  What if we consider all the good deeds a man does?  In Hosea 10:12, is says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”  Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”  Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  So this tells me that if we go through life doing good things for other people, we will be rewarded.  We may not see the harvest now, but there will be a time of reaping.
I am also reminded of the song ‘Bringing in the Sheaves,’ written by George A Minor.
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Notice the third line, Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping.  Although Mike didn’t live to see the harvest from what he sowed and he probably never even thought about how what he was sowing was going to benefit his children and grandchildren for generations to come; I know that he would be rejoicing over the outcome.  We need to realize that in life we have this very same chance.  Things that we do today, whether good or bad, big or small, will be affecting and influencing others.  And even though we may not even realize the significance of what we are doing, and we may not even realize who or how many people will be affected by our deeds, we are sowing seeds that we will be reaping from one day.  Will we sow seeds that will produce blessings, or will we sow seeds that bring about a curse?


This is Nana Nancy, Let Jesus be YOUR Guide as you enjoy YOUR ride!