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“And He said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.’” (Mark 4:26-29NKJV)

From this passage, the responsibility of the farmer is very clear. First, is to plant seed, and second, is to harvest the crops. The farmer may go ahead to weed the farm, irrigate the farm and even apply manure or fertilizer but he can not grow the seeds he has planted to become crops that he can harvest.

Though Jesus was speaking about the Kingdom of heaven in the passage above using farming as an analogy, there are lessons to learn from this as regards sowing and reaping.

From what Jesus said, and which I think you can relate to, it is not the responsibility of the farmer to grow seeds; it is the responsibility of the soil or earth to grow seeds. All the farmer can do to enhance the yield is to look for good seeds and good soil, apply fertilizer and also weed the farm. He cannot grow seeds.

Gen 1:11 states a truth nobody can contradict as regards the soil growing the seed. “Then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’ and it was so.” (NKJV) Did you see that? It is the responsibility of the earth to produce all kinds of plants - that’s why God commanded it to do so.

In Matthew 13:3-9, the sower’s responsibility was to sow and he did that. But the soil where the seeds were sown made the difference. “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (NKJV) Of all the different soils where the sower sowed the seeds, only the seeds that fell on the good soil yielded a crop. Even then, verse 8 tells us that these seeds that fell on the good soil also yielded different amounts of harvest – some hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold.

The varying amount of harvest was not the fault of the farmer. If we take it that the seeds were of the same quality, the differences in the crops produced by the seeds could only have been determined by the soil. It had nothing to do with the farmer. The actual growing of the seeds is not the job of the farmer. That is why in Gen 2:15, the Bible says God put Adam in the garden to cultivate it and take care of it; He didn’t ask Adam to grow the plants.

In addition to a good soil, most plants need water in varying amounts to grow and apart from man’s device of irrigation or watering, God will send the rain at the appropriate time for the plant to grow. It is not the responsibility of man to produce rain – he can not. “You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.” (Ps 65:9 NKJV) The rain that God sends enhances the harvest that is produced. When rain falls on the earth, it causes the grass to grow. (Psalm 72:6) “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.” (Ps 147:8 NKJV) That Scripture is referring to God.

God is the one that prepares the rain that will supply the water that the seeds planted need to grow and He will do that. He won’t ask man to plant the seeds and make rain that will water it. “‘It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,’ says the LORD; ‘I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.” (Hos 2:21-22 NKJV) Did you see that?

Not until God sends rain upon the earth will the earth yield her increase. It is not the responsibility of the farmer to bring rain; it’s God’s work and He knows the right time to do it. Until He does so, no seed planted will yield any harvest.

What am I trying to say in this message? There are many people who are becoming weary about the seeds they have been sowing – their money, their time, their kindness etc. They have been doing good deeds according to the Word of God. They have been sowing in cash and in kind and they’re becoming frustrated because they have not seen the harvest they have been told they will reap. I am not talking about those who are playing game with God. I am talking about those who sincerely love God and are seriously serving Him. They are already being reproached by those who can not see the impact and positive outcome of all their sowing, good deed done in the name of God both in the house of God and outside. They are being tempted to join the people Prophet Malachi tells us about in Mal 3:14: “You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance” (NKJV)

My word to such people is “KEEP SOWING, YOUR HARVEST SHALL COME” May be you are such a person and you have come under pressure or have become agitated about your seeds because you have been taught that you can determine when your harvest will come. You have fixed a time and the time is past without any harvest. Your experience is akin to what Prophet Jeremiah says in Jer 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (KJV) Somebody may have even prophesied to you the date your harvest would come and it didn’t come. That is not the fault of God; it is the fault of those that are speaking on behalf of God what He hasn’t sent them.

Giving or sowing is Biblical and if you sow according to the Word of God, your seeds can never be lost. God determines when the harvest will come. All you need to do like the farmer Jesus mentioned to in Mark 4:26-29 which I referred to at the beginning of this message is to sow your seed – a quality seed as you are led by the Spirit of God; keep sowing it into good ground like the good ground that gave that sower hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirty fold harvest. Keep sowing your seeds - don’t be weary. Any seed you sincerely sow in the name of the Lord can never be lost. You can rest assured of that.

Did you get something from reading this message today? I believe God has already spoken to you. I will stop here today and bring the concluding part of this message next week. You need to read the concluding part of this message next week. Please keep a date with the Holy Spirit on this page. Keep sowing, your harvest shall come!

If you are not born again, take the following steps:*Admit you’re a sinner and you can’t save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start to attend a Bible-believing, Bible teaching church. There, you will be taught how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: “0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I confess Jesus as my Savior and my Lord and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God”

I congratulate you if you have said that prayer sincerely. You are now a child of God. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord bless you.