What goes around, comes around. Every action has a reaction. What goes up must come down. These are all universal laws, laws that effect your life. There is also the universal law of reaping and sowing. They are seven in number, with each stemming from God’s eternal Word.
• Law 1 We reap much we did not sow
• Law 2 We reap the same in kind as we sow
• Law 3 We reap in a different season than when we sow
• Law 4 We reap more than we sow
• Law 5 We reap in proportion as we sow
• Law 6 We reap the full harvest of the good only if we persevere; the evil comes to harvest on its own
• Law 7 We cannot do anything about last year’s harvest, but we can about this year’s
The laws of the harvest seem so simple. Simple enough we may cast them aside thinking nothing of them. But the complexity of each law is that they powerfully produce a harvest of good and/or bad in our lives. This apple I hold demonstrates well the laws of the harvest.
Law 1 = I did not plant the tree this apple came from therefore I have reaped from what I did not sow.
Law 2 = This apple came from an apple tree giving proof we reap the same in kind as we sow.
Law 3 = This apple came from a tree that was planted perhaps years ago. So we reap in a different season than when sown.
Today we look into the fourth law, "We reap more than we sow." This apple illustrates for us the fourth law. Having cut the apple in two pieces we can count the number of seeds contained in this apple. However if we were to keep the seeds for sowing season and wait for the harvest we would be amazed how many apples we would reap from one seed. Someone has said, "You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the number of apples in a seed."
I. The Measure of More
This law brings into our lives the simple truth of the "measure of more." It has been said, "The Man who has More is the measure of all things."
We tend to believe and live by . . .
The more money you have the better off you are.
The more power you have the better chance you have of getting what you want.
The more prestige you have the better chance you have of going somewhere.
However we forget the law does not take into account what is better for us. That is left up to us in how and what we sow. This law only produces a harvest more than we have sown. It does not guarantee if the “more” is positive or negative because it is dependent on what?.....what it is that we have sown. But the law says that we will reap MORE than what we sow.
II. A Biblical Example of More Mark 4:1-8 READ
In this parable, Jesus said that the seed that fell on good ground increased (verse 8). A single grain grew to be a plant that produced thirty, sixty, or a hundred more seeds. Reaping more than we sow is fundamental to the laws of the harvest. Every farmer lives by this principle. If his work only returned exactly what he had planted in the ground, his labor would be futile. He would never gain anything extra with which to feed his family or sell for a profit.
For example, consider the potential of one kernel of corn: One kernel of corn will produce one corn stalk. On the average, each stalk will produce three ears. The average ear of corn has 250 kernels, so that a single kernel of corn will yield a 750% increase.
____corn kernal = ____ corn stalk = ____ corn ears = ____ corn kernels
The harvest is always greater than the seed planted – whether we are speaking of agriculture or the things of our lives. We invariably reap more than has been sown. This fact is both serious and sobering, and it applies equally to the Christian and the unbeliever.
Whatever a person sows, whether good or bad, he will reap the benefits or the consequences in a significantly greater proportion.
Of course, there are exceptions to this law because we live in a fallen world. A farmer may have his crops destroyed by drought, and we know that bad things can happen to good people. But even in these instances, God’s law is not set aside. If we look at the whole of a life, or all the seasons of harvest, we will find that as a general principle, we reap the same in kind as we have sown (Law 2) and we reap more than we have sown
III. Negative Reaping of More
The farmer knows if he plants inferior/bad seed he will get an inferior crop at harvest time, and sometimes "lots of it." I can hear the words of my Mom, "B. Archie, you better be careful, you are going to get more than you bargained for." How right she was! LOTTERY WINNERS
A. Proverbs 22:8 "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity…"
Vanity is from a Hebrew word that is also translated "iniquity," "wickedness," "affliction," or "mischief." Whereas the word translated iniquity emphasizes the deed done, the word translated vanity emphasizes the consequences. Twice (in Deuteronomy 26:14 and Hosea 9:4) it is translated as a form of "mourning" and is associated with death. This verse is telling us that when a person sows iniquity or unrighteousness, they reap adversity and sorrow.
B. Hosea 8:7a "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…." Whirlwind represents the harvest in kind (Law 2) that comes from sowing the wind. But it also represents the concept of more. A whirlwind is a violent, or fierce, wind – such as a tornado. Israel’s expression of displeasure with God (by turning to idols and foreign nations for help) is viewed as a "wind." God’s displeasure and resulting judgment is pictured as a whirlwind. The idea is that you may sow a breeze, but you’ll reap a gale.
C. Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over…." Jesus doesn’t specify what is to be given (or sown). However, He does promise that whatever we give, we shall receive IT (the same in kind) back again, but more abundantly. A similar promise is made in Malachi 4:10 concerning the tithe – a blessing returned so great that there will not be room enough to receive it.
D. Jacob. Genesis 44:18 - 45:4 The life of Jacob illustrates for us this fourth law. As a result of sowing the wind, Jacob reaped the whirlwind of trouble and heartache. Rebekah schemes with her second born son Jacob to deceive his father for the family blessing. Rebekah sent Jacob away for what she thought would be only a few days. But she never saw Jacob again and he was gone for 20 years.
Jacob had schemed and deceived to get the blessing and later he would receive in kind and even more from Laban his future father-n-law. Jacob worked 7 years to marry Rachel and was tricked by Laban into marrying Leah, the oldest daugher. Jacob then worked another 7 years for Rachel.
Jacob used the skin of a kid goat to deceive his father Isaac, and in his old age he was deceived by his sons with the goat skin coat Joseph wore into believing his son was dead. Proverbs 22:8 “He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail.”
E. David (2 Samuel 12:9-12)
David is a well-known example of this law from a negative perspective. He sowed iniquity and he reaped trouble. What he began as a little wind blew through his house like a whirlwind. Let’s look at the consequences of David’s sin. Carefully note how he reaped the same in kind and much more than he sowed. David had one man murdered. In time, four of his sons died premature deaths, three of them by violence – the illegitimate child, Amnon, Absolom, and Adonijah.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. We reap more than we sow.
IV. Positive Reaping of More
Looking into our ledger book we see this law like the others has a positive column. In a typical apple orchard growers plant some of their trees 40 years ago. They continues to reap more than they planted in a very positive fashion.
Do you think they would have planted those trees had they thought they would reap one apple for one tree planted? Of course not. The farmer who sows the seed has the expectation to reap a ratio of more than just "one to one". they intends to reap more than he has sown.
Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed to illustrate this law. Matthew 13:31-32: “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." One small act of kindness may reap a great act of kindness and, one small hand to help may reap many hands who help. Our doing good can reap a harvest that benefits others.
Spiritually speaking it is time to sow righteousness for a future harvest. Hosea 10:12-13 “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men.”
Even in the midst of hardship and heart ache if we will sow good we will reap God’s best. Looking into the life of King David we see the fulfillment of this law. We cannot cover the fact that David sinned with Bathsheba and together they both reaped in tragic proportions more than they had sown, It would be wrong to see only the bad and not the good David sowed throughout his life.
1 Kings 15:4-5 “Nevertheless for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” That son was Solomon. Solomon was part of the harvest to come from David’s life of righteousness.
2 Chronicles 7:17-18 "As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ’You shall never fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’ Most of David’s life was sowing good, not evil.
David planted the seeds of repentance (see: Psalm 51) and forgiveness. What a wonderful example of a heart that is repentant. Why is that important? Because it can and will make a difference for your future.
Let me speak again to the apple orchard. They planted some of the trees 40 years ago, and I understand that those trees with proper care will produce apples for another 40 plus years to come.
Let me remind you …
Sow a thought reap an act.
Sow an act and reap a habit.
Sow a habit and reap a character.
Sow a character and reap a destiny.
May I add … Sow a destiny and reap a legacy to be left for all those who come behind you. We sow more than we reap … you can count on it.
V. Conclusion
__________________ (your name).
You may say, wow, I haven’t lived right and I will continue to be punished. David’s example: READ Psalm 51.
2 Sam 12:13: Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Why is that important? Because it can and will make a difference for your future.
(From a series by Bob Aubuchon modified for my audience)
