Tag Archives: reaping

How Did It Get Like This?

If you have worked in a variety of positions or spent enough time at several different companies, you will go to work one day and hear someone say, “how did it get like this?” If there is an absence of leadership, a lack of communication, or a fatal flaw that goes unaddressed, issues can spin out of control. As one person passes the buck, pushing the responsibility down the road to the next person in line, a fine tuned operation can come to a screeching halt.

For every person will have to bear (be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [little] load [of oppressive faults].  Let him who receives instruction in the Word [of God] share all good things with his teacher [contributing to his support], Galatians 6:5-6.

In a letter to the Church at Galatia, the apostle Paul unveils the ideal scenario, followed by a root cause. When you share what you learn with others daily, positive things begin to happen. However, if you drift off course by becoming self-absorbed, the only thing these individuals care about is getting what is theirs. When self-promotion becomes a higher priority than doing what’s best for your team, it’s only a matter of time before things fall apart.

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life, Galatians 6:7-8.

Throughout scripture, sowing is used as a metaphor for one’s actions and reaping is the end result of these actions, A modern way of expressing this principle is that you get what you put into it. When corners are cut, standards are not followed, and procedures disregarded to save money, chaos will soon follow. Therefore, if you want to make a difference at your school or work, sow according to God’s Spirit so that eternal treasures will rain down from heaven.

by Jay Mankus

Unplowed Ground to Cover

The phrase unplowed ground refers to fallow ground. This comes from the Hebrew word nir meaning tillable but untilled ground. In the passage below, the prophet Hosea is talking about land that could be productive, but for whatever reason has not been broken up, tilled, plowed, and prepared for planting. To anyone who is willing to take an honest assessment of their life, everyone has unplowed ground to cover.

Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate]; Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek
and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing] until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you. You have plowed and planted wickedness, you have reaped the [willful] injustice [of oppressors], you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and your chariots, and in your many warriors, Hosea 10:12-13.

In the film Facing the Giants, a janitor stops by to tell a high school football coach on the verge of being fired something God put on his heart. After sharing this rhema, a message from the Bible, the janitor recalls a story about two farmers. During a severe drought, both farmers prayed for rain, but only one went out to his fields to prepare his land. If you expect God to help you cover the unplowed areas of your life, faith should inspire action.

Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a sincere love of the believers, [see that you] love one another from the heart [always unselfishly seeking the best for one another], 23 for you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God, 1 Peter 1:22-23.

One of Jesus’ disciples refers to an imperishable seed. This analogy represents the living Word of God, the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 details the power of the Bible, calling the words in this book as living and active. Each time individuals open up these pages to read, souls are convicted and inspired to cover unplowed ground. Therefore, if you want to experience a physical and spiritual harvest, let God’s principles renew and transform your mind. As you do, God will sow seeds within newly tilled areas.

by Jay Mankus