If you’ve been following Lighthouse Teaching for a while, you’d know that one of the first blog posts we made was about Seedtime and Harvest. As I’ve grown in my faith, I’ve realized that this is one of the most important aspects of Christian Living. Planting a seed and believing for growth is so important to our lives. But I’ve noticed something new, something fresh, about the concept.

In this post, we’ll be discussing the three most important parts of seedtime and harvest. We’ll be looking at the seed, the sower, and the harvest. These are three different parts and without anyone of these, we will never see seedtime and harvest. Essentially, you cannot plant a seed in any area of life and expect a harvest without each of these things.

The Law of the Seed and the Harvest

To get one thing clear before we continue, this whole seedtime and harvest thing that we’re discussing is true. It’s real and it’ll will always be as such. In fact, it’s as real and true as cold and hot, winter and summer, and day and night (Genesis 8:22).

Seedtime and Harvest was a law that God created for this world. It will never cease to happen whether we want it to or not. We are always planting seeds, and always seeing the harvest of such seeds.

So, before we even get started talking about each part of the concept, think about something. What kind of seeds are you planting? If you don’t know, then what kind of fruit or harvest are you seeing in your life? Think about these questions as we discuss.

The Seed

The first step in producing anything is always the same. It all starts with a seed. This is true for everything in life, though it’ll typically look different.

The most obvious example is with something like farming. I believe that most understand that it takes a seed to produce a plant. You plant the seed, it’s watered, receives sunlight, and then produces a harvest of a plant. That small planting produces something bigger than itself, though something like itself. For instance, a tiny little apple seed, will always produce an apple tree. Never a pear tree, and never another apple seed, but a tree.

We also have other examples of seeds to look at. We can even see the word of God as a seed in itself. When the Bible is planted in our hearts, there is always a harvest. That harvest depends of course on the soil of one’s heart, however, when the seed is planted and rooted deep in us, it can’t be taken out. It can only grow and produce a harvest in our lives. How great is that!

There are many other examples of the seed, but let’s pin our focus on another aspect of it.

Who Provides the Seed?

When you’re building your home garden and need some tomato seeds, for example, they don’t just come from nowhere. They don’t come from the air, and unless you already have an existing tomato plant, they don’t come from that. The most popular way to get a seed would be to go to the store and buy some. In other words, the seeds must come from somewhere and there must be a supplier.

So, whenever we are planting a seed, whether it has to deal with financials, a seed of faith, or maybe just a garden, where do we get it?

Well, there are two scriptures that I would like to stand on for this question. Let’s look at the first.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

This verse gives us a sort of, end all, to the discussion. Everything good comes from God, and if you didn’t receive it from him, it wasn’t good. Likewise, if it isn’t good, it isn’t from God. This shows us that whatever good seed we get comes from him. Not from the store necessarily, and not by our own hand, but from God’s. The next verse is similar.

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing” (2 Corinthians 9:10).

To take it plainly, the Lord provides us with good seeds, not bad ones, and if your seed is not coming from him, don’t plant it. For instance, he does not convict you, making you want to say harsh things to a friend. Or plant a seed of disunity between you and your family. He convicts us, drawing us to unity, love, and peace. He only provides good seed.

The Sower

So, we know, that not only does good seed not come from us, but it actually comes from God. He is the one that provides us with the first step and makes it possible for the harvest to happen in the first place. The next step starts with the sower, which is the most complex of the three parts. Mostly, because this is where choice and free will come into play. That is, because it is not a law for the right seeds to be planted. Unfortunately, that part is up to us.

We are the sower. Although, the Lord does plant seeds, in this discussion, and in most areas of our lives, we are the planter. This is why the Bible tells us that God provides the sower with seed, because we are the sower, and he gives us the seed.

Now, this is where it gets complicated like I said before, because free will allows us to choose the seeds we plant. Or allows us to not plant seeds at all, in doing so, we plant the wrong ones.

So, there are really two different seeds we can plant, it’s really pretty simple. We can plant a good seed, one that comes from God, or a bad one, one that comes from ourselves or the enemy. The third option is to choose to not plant a seed, inherently planting one of the bad ones, at least usually. Therefore, we are brought with a decision. Plant a good seed, or a bad one. Plain and simple, but let’s get into it.

What Seed to Sow

This is the focal point of the sower. We can’t just plant any seed and expect a result that we want. A harvest is always going to be like what has been planted. We don’t plant a pumpkin and expect a harvest of grapefruits. Or an apple and receive a harvest of lemons. Seedtime and harvest doesn’t work like that, thus the importance of the sower’s decision is exceptionally clear. We must plant according to the harvest we want, and the seed that we have. The time that we plant or the season we’re in doesn’t matter even half as much as deciding which seed to sow.

Now the question of which seed has an easy answer. We must plant that which is of God, and where will supply a great harvest. If we plant an apple seed in infertile ground, nothing will be harvested.

Let’s think of this from a money standpoint. Imagine that you’re asked to give, like we all are, and you are having trouble deciding what to give to. You have a few options in front of you.

• A drug dealer
• A stock of your choosing
• A church

As a Christian teaching site, you all can probably guess the right answer, but let’s pretend you can’t.

The drug dealer is neither God honoring, nor is it going to provide a great harvest.

The stock can provide a great harvest, but if you’re looking to give, then it isn’t necessarily God honoring.

And a church can be the right answer, though sometimes it’s not. A church that isn’t for God, wasting its money or spend it on things against God all break our standards (though I do believe everyone should be tithing). You must use discernment, hence why it is crucial that we plant the right seeds in right places.

What we could give those options as a seed may be a different story. Money wouldn’t be the right answer for all those examples.

Counselling may be a better seed to plant with the dealer, and some helpful advice may be a better seed for the seed. It is all about planting in the right places with the right seed.

Plant what comes from God, and in fertile ground.

The Harvest

This is the clearest and most simple of the three parts. That is, because everything leads up to it. The seed is what makes the harvest and as long as it’s planted, it will reap a harvest. The harvest will always be brought up by what is sown. Like we’ve said before, the apple tree will never come from a pumpkin seed. An apple seed is what makes the apple tree, and it will always be of likeness.

I believe that this is easy to understand, so I think it would be helpful to encourage you with some scriptures. Here are just a few scriptures used to talk about the harvest.

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” (Matthew 9:37-38).

“He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

“The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
he will seek at harvest and have nothing.” (Proverbs 20:4).

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthains 9:6).

It’s very evident that the harvest can be a great thing. An amazing thing. We have to do the first things first. We have to receive the seed and we have to plant it where it will reap bountifully. It’s also important that we trust God greatly, because he is the Lord of the Harvest.

The Lord Provides

One of the coolest things that I’ve noticed about the seed, sower, and harvest is that God really provides everything.

If you take a look at the scriptures used throughout this entire post, you’ll see that the Bible tells us that God not only provides the seed for the sower, but he is also the Lord of the Harvest. So, not only does he provide the beginning, but he also provides the end. We are just active somewhere in the middle, and if you think about, what we do doesn’t matter as much as what God does. Scripture even tells us that!

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:7).

God not only gives us the seed, but also, once the seed is planted by us, he provides the growth. How great is that!

So, brothers and sisters, I urge us all, to plant seeds for the Lord’s kingdom, for our peers, for Christ, that he may provide for us and his kingdom a great harvest!

Final Thoughts

Although planting seeds can be difficult, and waiting for the harvest can be even harder, trust the Lord.

I cannot begin to imagine how much God has blessed me without my knowing it. But I can assure you that I’ve seen the blessings come from planting seeds. I’ve had to wait, like we all do, but God provides when it’s right.

So, don’t worry about receiving the seed, don’t worry about the harvest that’ll come, or when it will come. Worry only about planting the right seeds in the right ground and believing for the growth.

Lastly, I don’t deem myself a great teacher yet, and with such an important topic as this, I believe it’s important that I provide you with a resource that helped me.

If you still need help understanding this or need clarity, go the Lord. HIs scriptures are the one thing that helped more than anything.