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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/796983
Right now you may be thinking, That’s great! I’ll take part of my tithe and pay off someone’s car! If so, let me warn you: tithing is not sowing—there’s a difference. When you tithe, you’re giving back to God what already belongs to Him. The Bible says the firstfruits (that’s the first and best 10 percent of your increase) belong to the Lord. Sowing implies giving something that belongs to you, so you’re only sowing when you give something over and above your tithe. Your tithe does affect your sowing, however. In fact, it’s the key to your sowing being blessed. Malachi 3:10-11 says, when you tithe, God will open the windows of heaven, rain on the seed you’ve sown and multiply it many times over. Don’t Faint The second reason why people don’t reap is that they get tired of waiting for their harvest, and give up. God warns us about that in Galatians 6:9. He tells us not to “be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” We have, however, a hard time waiting for “due season” because it almost always comes later than we want! Our flesh is impatient. It expects to plant a seed today and reap a harvest tomorrow. But that just doesn’t happen. ********************************************** Watch Keith on bvovn.com ********************************************** Spiritual things work just like natural things. A farmer knows it will take a certain amount of time for his crop to grow. He doesn’t try to rush the ground. He doesn’t get on his tractor and drive around yelling, “Hurry up, crops. I need a harvest NOW!” He just waits patiently because he knows his harvest will come in due season. Many charismatic Christians, on the other hand, seem to think that the moment they sow, the ground will quake, lightning will flash from the sky, and suddenly a massive harvest will shoot up from the ground. When that doesn’t happen, they just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, I guess I’m not going to get anything.” So they go on about their business and never give another thought to the seed they planted. As a result, they faint and miss their due season by forgetting what and where they sowed. Many times this happens because people don’t take their giving seriously enough to even expect a harvest. They view their giving as a loss instead of as an investment. Take your sowing seriously. Remember when and where you planted seed. Every time you think about it say, “I’ve sown in that area and I’m expecting a harvest!” Then constantly watch for it. Proverbs 10:5 says, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” Don’t be a sleeping son at harvest time. Stay awake and reap the rewards! Reaping Is NOT Automatic “If I plant good seed in faith, won’t my harvest just automatically come in?” No. It won’t. Reaping is no more automatic than sowing. Read the parable Jesus told in Mark 4 and you’ll see what I mean: “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come” (verses 26-29). God didn’t sow the seed in this parable. The man did. God gave the increase. Then it was the man who reaped the harvest by putting in the sickle. Reaping takes work. It requires action on our part. Just as a farmer doesn’t sit around at harvest time expecting his crops to march out of the field and into the barn all by themselves, we cannot expect our harvest to come in without our help. Maybe you were hoping God would take the responsibility for it all. But He won’t. If you’ll read the Bible, you’ll see that even when God supplied spectacular, miraculous provision, He still required His people to go out and gather it. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, for instance, God poured food down on them from the sky. But they couldn’t just sit in their tents and wait. It fell in little flakes like snow and they had to take their pot and pick up these little specks until they had collected enough to make bread. They had to reap the harvest! 22 : BVOV