SOWING AND EATING
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 NKJV
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
If you are thinking that I missed it on the title and it should read sowing and reaping, you are only partially correct. We do typically link sowing and reaping together, and that is the subject of verses six through nine of this same chapter. These verses contain some of my very favorite promises concerning giving. Sow bountifully, reap bountifully. Give as you purpose in your heart. Give cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you. I love these verses. They are my go-to verses for stewardship messages to the church.
However, today I want to carry a further thought regarding giving. Paul wrote that God supplies seed to the sower and bread for food. God supplies the very seed we have to sow and provides the food we eat. Thus the title sowing and eating. But what a wonderful promise. God will provide seed for us to sow. Finances so we can give. And God will provide provision for us to live.
But wait, there’s more! God supplies and multiplies the seed we sow and increases the fruits of our righteousness. I like how the Weymouth Translation renders this verse. “And God who continually supplies seed for the sower and bread for eating, will supply you with seed and multiply it, and will cause your almsgiving to yield a plentiful harvest.” Hey now! This is a great promise! We ought to have this on refrigerators everywhere as a verse to memorize, proclaim, and praise God with. I don’t know that I have ever given in an offering and thanked the Lord for supplying the seed and multiplying what I have sown. And believing that my giving is producing a plentiful harvest.
And we don’t stop there. Verse eleven says that by God supplying and multiplying our seed and yielding a plentiful harvest, we are being enriched in everything so that we can be liberal in sharing. And this generosity causes thanksgiving to come to God. The New Living Translation reads, “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”
God supplies seed for us to sow and food for us to eat. Then, He multiplies the seed and increases our harvest. So that we are enriched in every way so we can be generous toward others and the Kingdom of God. Our generous giving causes people to give thanks to God. Talk about win/win/win. Everyone wins here; there is no downside to our giving.
APPLICATION
Joy and I have been givers from our dating days before we were married. And the Lord has sustained us, helped us, and blessed us over the years. But as I was reading these verses, I realized that I have fallen short in thanking God for supplying the seed for us to sow and sustaining us. Taking these verses that we looked at today, I realized that I can step up a bit. Not only in the amount I give but also in the heart and thankfulness behind my giving. If it were not for the Lord, I would not have the seed to sow. I am thankful that He is multiplying what I am sowing. Thankful that a harvest is coming in and thankful that other people are giving thanks to God because I gave.
We may not see other people rejoice and give thanks because of our gifts, but I believe we’ll make that connection in heaven when we see people who have been reached for Christ because we gave. Sowing, multiplying, harvesting, and giving thanks to God—there is a whole lot of good going on here.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for supplying seed for me to sow and food for me to eat. Thank You for multiplying my seed and causing me to be enriched in everything so I can be generous. I am grateful to be a part of Your marvelous work and harvest.