The Benefits Of Casting Your Bread Upon The Water

The Benefits of Casting Your Bread Upon the Waters.

Eccl. 11:

1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

This world is governed by LAWS… not just referring to man-made laws, but rather the laws that come from God.

One of those laws is the LAW of the Harvest.

It is most definitely found here in Eccl. 11:1

The N.T. also records this law rather effectively.

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

7 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Please understand that according to scripture,

Even when we do not sow spiritually, we are still sowing…. Be as it will….we are sowing to the flesh.

Tonight: deal with the Benefits of sowing spiritually!

1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

You will eventually find the harvest. It will come.

Therefore, in all you do, work faithfully and patiently for as you sow to the spirit, you will reap a harvest of benefits!!!

But before I get into too much of the benefits…

Let me give you a few things about this CALL to CAST your bread upon the waters.

1. First of all, the call to sow is a call to a special kind of work, not really that all popular, but so essential for every Christian.

It is the call to Unappreciated Work:

We are called to render service that is often unappreciated by many, and often times unacknowledged.

The work we do, the sacrifice, the giving of our all is so often gone unnoticed by man…

BUT let us continue on with steadfastness and work in the spirit of a noble faith and concentration, because God is keeping a record book of all we do for HIM.

-the elderly folks you pick up for church….

-the Sunday school class you labor to teach

Sunday after Sunday…

-The janitorial work you do…

-The behind the scenes labor you do for the Lord….

2nd: It is a call to an Unobtrusive Work:

Bread sown on the waters suggest silent forms of service, that which is not in the limelight….that which is not out front in the spotlights of society.

Look at the life of Jesus… in all his work there was an absence of theatrics and advertisement.

-He never went around tooting his own horn.

-He never lifted himself up for men to see his works

John 7: 3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.

4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come:

Even Christ realized the importance of sowing… and also realized that there was a time of reaping to come!

He declined the temptation of publicity and simply went about doing good, sowing break upon the dark waters of humanity.

So softly did he trod, that History barely realized, and hardly recorded his supernatural events!

BUT he kept on Sowing here and sowing there… because he knew that his Kingdom was not of this world, but in the world to come!

And the history of the church has been pretty much the same way… from time to time, there have been great men of God to arise and make a mark in history, but for the most part, the church has survived and continued on because of

Men and women who cast their bread upon the waters…

They were faithful, they were committed, they were steadfast….

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.