Sow – Reap
The Bible has an agricultural slant on so many of its parables and examples, grape growing encounters are prolifically spread from cover to cover, fishing is very much connected to Jesus and the Disciples, Olives and Figs are sprinkled about, but grains like Barley and Wheat are more often at the forefront. What kind of return do you get in Wheat farming? Well, the USA average in 2022 was 46.5 bushels per acre, but at Moses Lake in Washington in 2022 they harvested 206.70 bushels per acre, not to be outdone, in 2021 on the Canadian Prairies the combines harvested 259 bushels per acre, and even down under in New Zealand, a farmer in Ashburton achieved a crop of 258.8 bushels per acre, which is their country’s record.
Matthew 13:3-9 “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and 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 sprung up, and choked them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Now the average wheat plant develops five heads, and each head has an average of 22 kernels each, or you get from this, if you plant a single kernel seed, and on average you will reap 110 kernels, now if my math’s is any good, then at 259 bushels per acre, means one seed planted means a yield of 612 kernels. 2 Corinthians 9:6 “But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
Now if man can get a 612% return on investment based on high yield wheat in perfect conditions, what yield or return can one expect when God steps in, then blesses our one seed planted, what is the yield results, and what if you planted 1,000 acres then what, then how about 10,000 acres, maybe 60,000 acres, what are your returns, when God puts his Combine Harvester through, how big, huge, or miniscule is your grain mountain. Luke 10:35 “And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” Now taking this that Jesus is the ‘Good Samaritan,’ and his soon return is, ‘when I come again,’ then the Earth is to be Combine Harvested, too late to plow and to sow, this is the harvest at the end of the age. Matthew 13:30 “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
I know of farmers who are in drought, the early rains to make a good crop, and the latter rain to produce a seed head and a crop, were all minimal, who when they drove their huge combine harvesters around sections of fields, 100’s of acres large, and not a single kernel to be seen, total crop failure. They survive on around 18 bushels per acre, reluctantly at about 28 bushels per acre, 30+ bushels per acre is great, and at over 50+ bushels per acre, well life is far and above amazing, give them 259 bushels per acre and they are literally drowning under grain mountains.
Job 42:12 “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.” Now if Job went a plowing with his ‘thousand yoke of oxen,’ he can plough some 40 acres per yoke per season, or he can seed and plant some 40,000 acres, and at a miserable 259 bushels per acre, that is a total yield of some 10,360,000 bushels, and at a price of $10.90 USD per bushel, Job would get a pittance of around $112,924,000 for a year’s work. Now the world’s biggest silo is in Iowa USA and hold 2.2 million Bushels, but Job is going to need a row of five of these monsters for his crop. Now it appears that most farmers can relate to this verse, Matthew 13:8 “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” Now thirtyfold is survivable, sixtyfold is pretty good, hundredfold, is very rare, and six-hundred and twelve-fold, is fantasy zone, Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld [them], and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Revelation 20:12-13 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” Now playing with ‘Harvest Time,’ Matthew 13:30 “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Jesus turns up with his fleet of Combine Harvesters, all the ‘Tares’ are already bundled up and dumped aside for burning later, and the Combine Harvesters get going on a wheat harvest, and the ‘Train to Glory’ is loaded and pulls out of the station loaded with its precious cargo of precious grain, for the silos in heaven, and each farmer is then paid for what he did, or did not grow. We all plant, scattering the ‘Good Seed,’ some bounteously and some sparingly, Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Hosea 8:7 “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” Are you sowing to this life, seeds of tares and death, are you sowing sparingly or bounteously, but remember that God shall reward each one of us according as our works shall be, sow sparingly and you will reap sparingly, let us sow bounteously and abundantly unto ‘Eternal Life,’ so how is your seeding and sowing coming along, when God blesses thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold or bountifully more, are you going to be proud or highly embarrassed and mortified by the wrong or a miserable crop?
We need to remember that God owns everything, and we are just ‘Tennant Farmers’ who farm under contract, we sow and grow and tend, then God harvests the crop, and we are then paid the value for the crop, and for the abundance or lack thereof, high value crops and high yield is paid handsomely, low value crops and low or no yield are paid out sparingly. We all get to choose what crop we will sow, then we receive rewards for the crop and the abundance of the crop. Let heed this verse in Hosea 10:12 “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Now what are you seeding and sowing, what is the crop that will grow, weeds or seeds, much or little, you get to choose each day, until harvest time, and then it is way too late to renegotiate things. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.” Revelation 20:12 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Mathew 25:24-25 “Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine.” One can give God his seed back for no reward, or plant it and receive a great and bounteous reward, for what ye sow, so shall ye also reap, with God’s blessing and multiplier, how big is your reward going to be?
