Reaping Your Harvest
“And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come” – Mark 4:29 (NLT).
The dictionary meaning of harvest is the act or process of gathering agricultural crops. It is reaping what one has sown. Generally, the harvest is the blessing that one has believed for, sown or worked towards. Too many times in church circles, much more focus is centered on sowing or planting seeds with little or no attention given to the concept of reaping. Every farmer will readily agree that harvest times are very serious times indeed; it is a time of hard work and diligence for the farmer just like the sowing season. The Bible says he who gathers in summer is wise, but the one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace (Proverbs 10:5, NLT). Below are some truths on how to REAP:
Reaping isn’t automatic: This is so because there are seed destroyers that can destroy the seed sown or reduce the yield of the harvest (Malachi 3:10-11). In Judges 6:1-10, the Bible narrates how the Midianites oppressed the Israelites. After Israel had sown, the Midianites would come and destroy their produce, and as a result Israel became very impoverished. Seed destroyers such as doubts, satanic attacks, ungratefulness, habitual sins, lack of prayers and positive confession, slothfulness etc, can hinder reaping or reduce the yield of the harvest. Scripture reference: Matthew 13:18-23
Engage your tongue appropriately: Our opening Bible text tells us that when the grain is ripe, the farmer gets his sickle for harvest. A sickle is an agricultural equipment for harvesting. Our tongue is our sickle for harvesting the seeds we have sown. The Bible says a man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth. The power of death and life resides in the tongue (Proverbs 18:20-21). The power of attorney God gave to Adam at creation that made him call things forth and name things was restored to every believer in Christ. The Bible also says we should continually refresh God with the fruit of our lips by extolling and exalting Him all the time (Hebrews 13:15). As we use our tongue appropriately, our harvests will be delivered.
Align with God: The prophet Haggai was sent to the people of Judah to tell them to consider their ways. This people had sown much but brought in little. They were dissatisfied and had little results to show (Haggai 1: 3-11). The simple reason was that they ignored God’s interest and pursued their own dreams and interests. God is the Lord of the harvest and Decider of all things. Proper alignment and agreement with Him guarantees bumper harvest. It is wisdom to pursue divine interests over and above our personal interests.
Plant good seeds continuously: The day a farmer stops sowing seeds or stop planning to plant is the day he ceases to be a farmer. The life of a farmer revolves around sowing and reaping. As long as the earth remains seedtime and harvest shall not cease (Genesis 8:22). The Bible teaches that we should sow in the morning and evening, so that our good seeds will compensate for the seeds that go bad (Ecclesiastes 11:6). Also continuous sowing is instructed because God actually increases and multiplies the seed sown, causing a bumper harvest to occur (2 Corinthians 9:10).
CONCLUSION: I join my faith with yours in this new month to call in all our harvests already ripen in the field in Jesus’ name. Have a blessed month!
Ade(Gboyega) ESAN
www.rccgpittsburgh.net
http://gboyegae.blogspot.com