Plowing, Sowing, Watering, and Reaping

To make a successful crop, there are at least four things you must do.  You must plow to prepare the soil.  You must sow or plant the seed.  And then you must water the plants as they grow.  And, finally, you must harvest.

Each of these activities can be performed by the same person or by different people.  But they must all be done.  If you don’t plow, the soil won’t be of good enough quality for the seed to take root.  If you don’t sow, there won’t be anything to come up.  If you don’t water, the plants that come up won’t survive or produce.  And if you don’t reap, the harvest will go to waste in the field or be eaten up by wild animals and birds.

We should examine our labor in the harvest to see if we can figure out why we we’re not seeing more harvested fruit than we are.  Let’s look at each stage of the process.

Plowing – Prov 20:4, “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing”.

The excuse is “cold”.  The truth is “sluggard”.  A sluggard is habitually lazy.  No doubt the world is cold to the gospel.  Yet, the ground must be plowed.  We do this by:

• Invitations to eat together.
• Provocative questions.
• Engaging conversations.
• Good deeds and involvement.
• Elimination of conflicts to make more time for “plowing”.

Sowing – Ecc 11:4, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap”.

The excuse is “wind” (it blows seed around).  The truth is “overly cautious”.  No doubt the many winds of doctrine are blowing.  But the seed must be sown.  We do this by:

• Handing out tracts.
• Witnessing to them.
• Opening our Bible and showing them the gospel.
• Quoting memorized verses specifically for them.
• Sharing our website and YouTube channel with them.

There is nothing to harvest if there is no seed sown.  We can be like a politician who gauges the prevailing wind before speaking.

Watering – 1 Cor 3:6-8, “I have planted, Apollos watered… Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor”.

These are great verses showing that we are different and have different strengths and duties in the work in the field.  Apollos would have had nothing to water if Paul had not planted.  And Paul would have had no fruit if Apollos had not come behind him to water.  And God would have had no increase if these two men had not done what they did.

This is the “scary” part.  The implication is the there is no increase for God to give without our labor.  We should not be practical calvinists.

Reaping – Prov 10:5, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame”.

There’s no excuse; he was just sleeping.  And that’s the truth.  Paul said, “now it is high time to awake out of sleep”, Rom 13:11.  And in Eph 5:14 he said, “Awake thou that sleepest”.

There is a harvest still ready to reap.  Joel Haynes’s father and his partners did the plowing, sowing, and watering.  And then Joel came behind them to reap.  The more of the first three we are doing, the more harvest there will be to reap.

Jn 4:37-38, “One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors”.  We must wake up and reap where others have already sown.

Conclusion: which of these are you good at?  Which should you be doing that you’re not currently doing?  What is your excuse?  What can you do to change this so that we can be effectual laborers in his harvest?