One sows and another reaps

by Joel Ramshaw (2021)

John 4:34-38 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”


1 Corinthians 3:6-7  “ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”

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We often give the credit to world-famous evangelists for their role in saving millions of souls during powerful ministry crusades and healing events. They are the ones who get to boast about how many “millions” they led to the Lord. The famous evangelist is the “reaper” so to speak. They cruise in and harvest the ripened field which is sitting there waiting. What should not be neglected is the pathway to this point. Do we forget that the Holy Spirit is the One who truly saves? All of this credit to the human showmen and we forget God’s part. This is where prayer comes in. There are plenty of people who are unknown and will never be on television, yet have powerful relationships with God and are in constant prayer for the end-times harvest day after day. This barrage of prayer releases angelic forces to earth’s domain, to work in the hearts and minds of the individual, to prepare them for salvation. These faithful praying persons help to “ripen” the fruit so to speak. We too often belittle prayer because of its invisible workings, saying a prayer as a last resort rather than running to God first for wisdom, power, and direction. When our lives on earth are over, we will get to see behind the scenes every time God intervened and we never realized it. For instance, the traffic accidents He prevented where we would have died. Traffic is far more dangerous than we realize. Rather than fearing terrorists or serial killers, your true dread should be the daily drive. God will have saved us from countless accidents and yet we never realized it or gave Him thanks!

The faithful praying person is like the fellow who waters the planted seed. It takes faith to water a seed you cannot see and it takes faith to pray when we cannot see the results. Now who is “planter” who lays the seed down? Think of time in your workplace. You share your faith to a coworker and invite them to church but they brush it off. You may count is as a failure and rejection, but what you have done is planted the seed. You initiated an entire process which is now under God’s control. The Holy Spirit is constantly bringing the conversation back to their remembrance, convicting the person of their selfish life and of their need for a saviour. Like the grain of sand which works in the oyster, irritating it and causing it to secret the substance which creates a beautiful pearl, the Holy Spirit irritates the person with the evangelistic seed you have sown, slowly transforming their mindset to one which will be receptive to the beauty of God’s word. Although that person rejected your evangelism, they may later be saved in a revival meeting, or receive salvation when spoken to at a different time by another person. Like the “assist” in a hockey game, although getting none of the credit, it is an equal part of the process of evangelism. Play your part in this end-times evangelistic work and participate by following God’s leading. When He prompts you to do a good deed for someone, you are sowing a seed into their life which will cause them to become more responsive to Christ. When you pray, you are watering seeds, releasing angels to help assist people to come to Christ or strengthen their relationships in Him. You don’t have to be the famous evangelist to have a critical part to play! Salvation is a process, like a long chain. Your small words and actions to the lost may seem insignificant, but God is using them to sows those critical seeds. Never belittle the small things.


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