In the Parable of the sower Jesus said to the disciples:
“ … Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables? The sower sows the Word.”
Mark 4:13-14 AMPC
God’s Word is the seed that the sower sows. And almost all of the Parables of Jesus has one thing or another to do with sowing seeds. It’s the secret to the prosperity of God’s Kingdom here on the earth. The good news is that God wants everyone of His children to sow seeds, so that they can be able to enjoy His prosperity here on the earth.
That’s why Jesus gave us so many Parables in the scriptures, to illustrate God’s pathway into the real harvest. Anyone who does not understand it will suffer endlessly on the earth. The lack of understanding and discernment into it will deprive them of the best that God has for them. It’s possible for a Christian to know the scriptures very well, but if he is not applying it appropriately to his personal life, it will profit him nothing.
For example no farmer plows his farm forever without planting the seeds that he intends to harvest. The sower sows seeds with the intention of reaping in the harvest. He plans tirelessly for the planting season, just as much as he plans also for the harvest. He looks forward to the harvest with eagerness of heart.
The harvest season to him is a season of celebration and great joy. It is the season that gladdens the heart of the Father as well. The Father rejoices with him in seeing the harvest of the seeds, that he has planted around his community. The sower is also the seed of the Father. He trusts him to become fruitful, increase and multiply in transforming his community.
The harvest of his seeds (souls), points directly to the result of his act of obedience to the Holy Spirit, in sowing as the Spirit led you to do it. It reflects his moral obligations in the covenant by the blood of Jesus. God expects him to reap the harvest. So if His directions are not being followed, then the sower should not expect any harvest.
A Pastor was once directed by the Lord to start a new Church plant in a small Scandinavian community. The Lord had brought him out from a big city into this small rural community. But he struggled to get anyone to come to the new Church in this traditionally Lutheran community. They did not receive the words (seeds) which he was sowing among them.
One day as he was praying in the spirit, he was directed by the Holy Spirit to go, and wait at the main junction of the road into the community inside his car at 7pm. He drove to the location and waited past 7pm. He was almost feeling concerned about what he was supposed to do next. But at exactly 7:30pm a young lady was dropped off by another car. The Holy Spirit then told him to give her a ride home in his car.
The lady was about to take the long walk home, when he offered her a ride. She jumped into the vehicle, and as they approach her house, she was surprised to see a large crowd gathered in front of the property. They later discovered that her father had just suffered a heart attack, and they don’t know when the ambulance would arrive.
By the time the paramedics got to the scene, he was pronounced dead. This Pastor then understood why the Lord had led him into the situation. He stepped in immediately, and in the Name of Jesus called the elderly man back to life.
This marked the beginning of the harvest for this Pastor. He had waited for seven years to receive it. The harvest came to him as he walked in obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit. His Church and healing ministry began from that time onwards. God lifted him up.
No matter for how long you may had been sowing your seeds of faith, don’t ever give up. Your harvest is just around the corner also.
No excuse for a failed harvest
Just as the harvest is the celebration of his obedience to God, a failed harvest is the failure of the sower to live up to his moral obligation before God. The Prophet Joel explained what a failed harvest looks like when he said:
“Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.”
Joel 1:11-12 NKJV
A failed harvest is a failure of moral standard, to walk in obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit before God, the Father. This happens when the sower is not getting anything back from his seed sowing activities. The result is the lack of joy and enthusiasm in the harvest. Everything that he has worked for are completely destroyed in a failed harvest. This is a situation that God does not want for anyone of His children.
The seeds that he has planted may be different from one another, but each one of them produces after their own kinds. Apart from that seeds do often grow and respond differently, to the condition of the ground where they had been sowed.
In the same manner the process of harvesting the seeds are different, just as much as the harvesters of the seeds are different from one another. God is the One who sends the harvesters. And He will always send the best harvesters for each harvest.
It is unfortunate to often see some in the five fold ministries, struggling to embrace the harvesters that the Father has sent to them. The harvesters may not meet any of your personal standards, but don’t ever forget that God often uses imperfect vessels to reveal His glory. He is not seeking a perfect vessel. But He uses only the willing and obedient vessels for His glory.
To the sower the harvest time is therefore a time of great celebration, because he has lived long to see the fruit of his labor. Jesus once said:
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
John 4:35-38 NKJV
Paul told the Corinthians:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
I Corinthians 3:6-8 NKJV
The sower and the harvester are both working together, towards the same goal of building up the Body of Christ. One is never better or superior to the other. They are both doing exactly what the Father has told them to do. A lot of people like to often belittle the work of an evangelist in the harvest. Others do like to lift up one of the five fold ministries over the other ones. This is a wrong attitude that can easily lead to a failed harvest.
Christians need to be very careful with this, because every born again child of God, who is filled in the Holy Spirit qualifies to be used by God in the harvest. You can’t be cherry picking for God about, who is better qualified and who is not.
There are many sowers of God’s word, who do often get skeptical about the work of the harvester, sent from God to help them in the harvest. I have personally seen many who had missed out of the blessing of the Lord to them, because they were not open minded to receive God’s harvesters. How will they stand before God in Heaven, and explain their lack of reception of His harvesters to them?
This is indeed the reality of what many are doing to shortcut their harvest today within the Body of Christ. Are you ready for what the new year has for you? God has surprises in store for you. Be open minded to receive those who are being sent to help you with the harvest.
