Are You Reaping The Right Harvest In Your Life?

James 3:18 (NLT) And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

I don’t have the green thumb like my dad does. If you we’re to go to his house you would find that there is hardly a weed anywhere and everything that he plants grows luscious and fruitful. He has always shown a real interest in farming and planting and growing things. When I was a young boy growing up, My dad used to own a small apple farm in Littlerock, California that he, my grandpa, my brother and myself regularly worked in. There was the tilling of the soil, the irrigating, the removal of weeds, the trimming of the trees and even the bird patrol. And… eventually there was the harvest. In between the rows of trees there would often be other vegetables and plants growing that would supply food to our table and product for the local farmers market. My dad and my grandpa would be so meticulous in the way that they planted the seed and the place where they wanted every seed to germinate and grow. As farmers, they knew an important fact: what you sow is what you will reap. You couldn’t plant corn seeds and expect to get watermelons. You couldn’t plant zucchini and get a pumpkin plant. You only get what you plant in your ground. I have people tell me often that they would like a different type of crop to out of their lives. As an example, someone will say to me, “I want more peace.” That’s a great prayer that I think most of us would desire that in our lives. But peace won’t come their/my way unless they are planting seeds of peace in others. Now, I know that God can miraculously touch us and give us that miracle of peace but somewhere along the line – we need to be planting the right seeds. If we need a financial blessing – we need to be practicing giving. If we need prayers answered – we should be praying for others. If we need peace – we should be peacemakers with others. The list could go on and on. In other words, invest in what it is in that you need in your life. I read about a missionary recently who was dying and was asked about what he wanted said about his life after he died. He looked at them in the eye and said, “I want it said that when I came there was much darkness but when I left there was much light.” I’ve been mulling over this for three days now and can’t get it out of my head. That’s how I want to live my life and that’s how I want to define my life as I come to the end of my days. It is then and only then that I can be assured of reaping a harvest of righteousness!