Scripture tells us the following.
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. Genesis 26:12 (NKJV)
The latter part of the verse, ‘and the LORD blessed him’ is one of those ‘no kidding’ statements. To sow seed in a time of famine and reap an abundant harvest requires the Lord’s blessing. Some context is helpful. As the region entered into famine Isaac received a specific word from the Lord.
2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:2-5 (NKJV)
Isaac was being blessed because of the obedience of his father, Abraham. His later natural harvest was a prophetic picture of the spiritual promise, ‘in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’ We know this was fulfilled when through Jesus salvation was made available to the nations. Applying it to our lives, Jesus our elder brother sowed His life on the cross and reaped the lives of all believers – past, present and future, as a harvest.
Jesus may call us to sow no matter our season. Decades ago I heard a missionary share how the Lord sent him into Cambodia in the late 1970’s when the Khmer Rouge were slaughtering everyone and all the Westerners were fleeing the country (the Khmer Rouge killed 1.5 – 2 million people, roughly a quarter of Cambodia’s population from 1975-78). He saw a great harvest of souls from sowing the gospel in the country against all natural odds.
Jesus calls us to sow seeds and stated the following regarding sowing His own life in the crucifixion.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:23-25 (NKJV)
As we hear Jesus heart and make a decision to lay down our own lives and agendas let us seek His wisdom for where we are to sow. As we seek where to sow we can reflect on the incredible capacity that lies with seeds. In the image below we see the ongoing fruit of a small seed being sown in a difficult place.
