One of the most influential beliefs that has helped me to grow in my relationship with the lord, and in my personal life is the idea of seedtime and harvest. While it is a popular concept that we can see in everyday life in farming and such, many do not really understand the full weight of it. Here, we will talk about what we need to know about seedtime and harvest.

What is it?

Seedtime and harvest is the process of planting a seed that will reap a harvest. An example of that would be a lemon seed. When one plants a lemon seed in the ground, they can expect, with proper care, a lemon tree to grow. That tree would produce lemons. Because seedtime and harvest is so crucial to our lives, lets dissect it a bit.

Planting a Seed

Planting a seed is the first step. It is the act of putting something in the ground or simply putting something in, with the expectation of something growing from that. We could easily relate it to the actual action of planting a seed in the ground, but what we don’t often realize is that we are constantly planting seeds, whether good or bad.

All of our actions have an effect that will produce something. When we insult someone, we plant a seed of hurtful ideas in their mind, and what is produced is typically something negative. Whereas, when we compliment someone, we are planting a seed of good ideas of themselves in their mind, and this will typically produce a good harvest in that person’s life. In this situation, a seed was planted just by speaking to someone.

We can plant seeds into ourselves by working out, even a small amount, regularly or eating healthier and giving our body the type of food that it truly needs. By doing these things, we would produce a harvest of a healthy body, with all the benefits that come from it.

We could also look at this from a different perspective. When someone invests in a stock, they invest a small amount, and they can produce a great harvest from that small stock.

When we invest in someone’s go fund me for example, we could only be sowing a small seed by donating a small amount, but that small amount may be what helps them get exactly what they need.

In almost everything we do, we are planting seeds. We can plant bad seeds, or we can be intentional in planting good seeds into our lives and into the lives of others.

The Harvest

The harvest, often called the fruit as well, can be described as the outcome of the seed that is planted. We can look onto the fruit that grows from a lemon tree or the lemon tree itself as an example. A lemon seed was planted in the ground and the lemon tree is what comes from it.

If we look back at the illustration our how our words can be a seed planted in someone’s life, the harvest of those situations can be rather serious. A compliment can leave someone thinking good thoughts about themselves and something they can consistently look at for encouragement. the insult can leave someone with a constant insecurity that can really damage the mental health of that individual. Though the harvest of both would most likely be on a smaller scale, we would definitely prefer to plant a good seed.

A few things that are important to note about the harvest are that:

• The seed will produce a harvest of its own kind.

Matthew 12:33 says that “the tree is known by its fruit.” We can see this through a tree. An apple tree doesn’t make lemons, and a lemon tree doesn’t make apples. This means that in whatever we do, we can expect a harvest that is similar.

• A great harvest does not come instantly.

A tree does not grow overnight, in fact, it can actually take a tree up to 30 years to fully grow. At times it may seem like we are planting seeds for nothing to come from it, but keep having patience, and trust that it will produce a great harvest in time.

The Soil

While the type of seed we plant is very critical, and the harvest that is produced from that seed is important, something that cannot be overlooked is the soil. To greater understand this, we can look at the parable of the sower:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” (Luke 8:5-8)

In this passage, Jesus describes a parable of seeds being sown in four different soils. Three of the soils caused the seed to reap practically no harvest, yet there was one soil that caused the seed to produce a harvest. That seed “fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” (Luke 8:8)

This can greatly relate to certain areas of planting seeds such as if you invested in stocks or were literally planting a seed in the ground, but more so, it relates to the Word being seed in our lives.

In the next passage of scripture, Jesus explains the parable and states “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). Just as the seed that grew and yielded a hundredfold fell into the good soil, as does the word of God. Therefore, the word of God, when planted in good soil, yields a hundredfold.

The Word of God

Now that we have discovered that the word, planted in good soil, produces a great harvest, let’s find out what good soil actually is. At least as it relates to the heart.

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

This means that the word of God must be held on to, and in a good and honest heart. The way that I have seen the most impact of the Word was when I found joy in the teachings. When I let the Word teach me a lesson I didn’t necessarily want to hear. When I made a scripture or a teaching a part of who I was.

For months, I would constantly think about one passage of scripture, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. I would recite it and remember it anytime I was feeling down. It often eased my tension. It took away much of the heavy weight I felt. The main premise of that passage is that we are internally renewed every day. After letting that verse become a part of who I was, from thinking on it so much, I actually felt renewed, day by day. In other words, I let that verse become a seed in my life, and it reaped a harvest.

This is the aspect of seedtime and harvest that has helped me to grow. When I really began to let the word of God be planted in my heart was when I started to see myself become a healthier and better person.

Final Thoughts

While this concept may not seem very practical, there are so many ways that we can plant seeds in our lives, and we can hardly avoid reaping a harvest. That is because seedtime and harvest is a promise.

Genesis 8:22 says that “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

This makes the idea of seedtime and harvest a promise, meaning that it cannot just stop happening. Just as day and night are not going anywhere, neither is the law of seedtime and harvest. As long as there is a seed planted, there will be a harvest.

We can plant seeds in many different ways. We can be generous and give to those around us, we can sow hard work and effort into our careers, and my personal favorite, we can plant the word of God into our hearts. Those are just a few examples of the many ways we can plant a seed, but in all seeds, there is a harvest to be reaped.

Now it is very important that we must have patience as we plant seeds. As difficult as it may seem to be patient, keep your eye on the seed and believe in the Word of God, that your seed would produce a harvest. As we go about planting seeds, let this quote by Robert Louis Stevenson be some encouragement to you.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”