Wednesday, April 20, 2011

April 20th – Proverbs 20: Down Payment on a Harvest

“A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” – Proverbs 20:4

I believe that many modern day believers completely miss the pregnant meaning if this verse because we have moved away from an agrarian society. We quickly dismiss or overlook the message hidden in the symbolism because we go to the grocery store to get our stuff, no planting needed! But this scripture contains a real key to a lifestyle of prosperity and abundance.

Lazy, or idle people don’t do the right activity that the times call for. They miss the boat. When it’s time to plant, they remain comfy and warm in their homes. The King James says that the lazy will not plant because of the adverse conditions of the cold. Winter has receded, spring is in the air, but because the conditions aren’t IDEAL, the lazy man does no work. Come the autumn, when it is time to harvest, he has nothing to eat and begins to beg of the man that does!

Yes, this applies to a farmer, but it also applies to you and me! I can’t tell you how many times I have encountered believers that are TODAY feeling the pain of their laziness YESTERDAY. They didn’t SOW YESTERDAY so now they have nothing to REAP TODAY. You don’t sow seed TODAY that you need TODAY. You sow seed TODAY that you will need TOMORROW.

How does this apply? Well, probably the most obvious application that comes to mind is our finances and it’s one that we must deal with every day. Yet this principle applies to our relationships, our marriages, our families, our callings, our beliefs, etc. If you aren’t sowing compassion and kindness into your marriage TODAY, when you need a harvest of grace and mercy TOMORROW, you will have a huge fight suffer lack. If you aren’t sowing time and energy into your kids TODAY, that great lecture you need to have with them when they make a mistake TOMORROW won’t mean so much, will it stranger err, I mean Dad.

In our finances, when we need a harvest, it’s already too late to plant the seed. That’s why it’s a wonderful thing to sow TODAY what we will need TOMORROW. Stingy believers that don’t give and hold on to all of their resources always seem to be shocked when the harvest of GENEROSITY they need isn’t there when they need it. Want abundance? Then sow liberally? We are continually reaping the benefit of what we planted YESTERDAY. Not reaping a harvest TODAY? It’s probably because you weren’t sowing YESTERDAY.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” – II Corinthians 9:6

LIFE LESSON:
Wise people consider sowing TODAY down payment on a Harvest TOMORROW.

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