Scripture:
1 Corinthians 15:36-38
Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:46
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
Observation:
You reap what you sow.... but you also reap because you sow! You cannot reap without sowing. There is no harvest without first sowing the seed.
There is no breakthrough unless we sow the natural seed and let it die. Letting it die, letting it go, so that God can bring about the change and the life that He desires in the form that He ordains.
But what natural things are we to sow, to reap spirtual harvests?
What about:
- time in the Bible (seeking, asking, meditating, applying,...)
- time in prayer
- giving our tithes and offerings
- being generous with time and resource
- laying character flaws and frustrations at the feet of God
There are too many to name here, but these are but a few of the issues I need to consider and struggle to give on a consistent basis.
And what about what we reap as a result? Well see that's the issue here. We don't know what it will reap but it will reap something that is in the form of fruitfullness (fruit of the SPirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control). It will be something that is life giving for us and others, it will be something uniquely spiritual and not as much natural (taking on a whole new form), it will probably be a breakthrough, transformation, ....well anyway it will tak e a form that God desires to reap in my life! It's a God harvest!
Application:
It will cost me something, this life transformation harvest. It's not about my hard work though, it's about God's faithfullness and love. It's about Him and it will be for Him. The byproduct is my character formation and blessing and lofe though which is awesome! Something in me needs to die, I need to give up the seed, I need to make that natural step that in reality seems like an impossibility! My flesh desires must die, my self seeking and selfishness must die, so that the spiritual and the Holy Spirit can make possible that which was previously impossible! If God is going to do the increase, I need to be about the act of sowing.
Prayer:
Help me Lord to comprehend more fully what this means in my everyday life. I am not satisfied with the possible, I long to see Your outworking in and through my life. Show me the things I need to do, show me what needs to die, show me where I am trusting in my own natural talents and resources, that I may give them back to You, and I pray that You would transform the things of the natural into the supernatural. That the things in my life will be ever increasing in fruitfullness that brings Glory to You and draws people unto Yourself. More of You and less about me. In Jesus Name, Your awesome Name. Amen
