SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS
Jim Elliott, martyred for the cause of Christ in an attempt to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador with the Gospel, wrote in his diary: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” After Jim Elliott’s death, his own wife and many others stepped forward to take his place and win this heathen tribe to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jim Elliott’s death, salvation came to the Auca Indians.
Jesus said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)
A seed cannot produce anything until it is first sown into the ground and dies. The potential is within each seed to produce a harvest, but it is dormant until it is sown into the soil. Jesus taught the principle of gaining through loss and receiving through giving (Matthew 10:39; Luke 18:29-30).
The harvest principles we are meditating on relate to the economy of God’s Kingdom, sowing and reaping and eating the good of the land. Here is another principle to think about:
You must sow regardless of the circumstances: Those who regard circumstances will never enter into the divine cycle of financial harvest. Negative financial circumstances will defeat them, just as a farmer who neglects his field because of the cold, wind, and clouds:
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
An important strategy of spiritual harvest is that you must sow regardless of your circumstances:
Happy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters (when the river overflows its banks; for the seed will sink into the mud and when of the waters subside will spring up; you will find it after many days in an abundant harvest…) (Isaiah 32:20 TAB)
You must “sow beside all waters” which means in all circumstances. You must sow financially in good times and bad times. Even when the rivers of financial difficulties threaten to overflow the banks of your life, you must continue sowing. God has promised it will yield an abundant harvest.
…Isaac sowed his seed and reaped a harvest in a time of famine.
…Jesus commended the widow lady who did not have much to give because she gave sacrificially.
…The widow with only a little oil and meal used it to minister to God’s prophet and received her financial breakthrough.
Make this declaration:
I will sow my finances in good times and bad. I will reap abundantly in good times and bad.
