Paul was challenging the church in Corinth specifically in their giving to the ministry. He used the common example of the law of the harvest to illustrate this point. They would reap what they sowed. Where they invested their resource, they would experience God’s multiplication of their efforts. God would provide them with seed, but it was the people’s decision about what they would do with the seed. Just because the seed may look small and inconsequential, they shouldn’t be held back. The right time to plant is when a person has something small in their hand. God would produce a harvest in their lives if they were willing to diligently sow good seed into the ground where they were already standing.

The principle of sowing and reaping can be applied to all areas of our lives. Yet, one component that is often overlooked is that we get to choose the field in which we sow seed. Sometimes we stand at the edge of a field that is in a drought and keep sowing seed that is not leading to fruitfulness. It can be confusing to wrestle the promise with our reality. How are we not gathering a harvest from our sowing? Faithfulness sown in the wrong field won’t lead to the desired outcome. However, since we get to choose the fields in which we sow, then we have an active part in the process. The farmer doesn’t sit back and wish seed to grow. He gets in the field and works the ground. He puts forth effort, toil, and sweat. He understands that crops have to be rotated in the fields so that they don’t deplete the ground of its nutrients. He understands that every seed won’t produce. He is preparing for a coming season by investing in the work today. We want to reap what we sow, but sometimes we sit back and wait for someone else to do the planting. Getting a new job, selling a house, or raising a child all require effort and action on our part. We have to plant the seed before it can grow. Instead of waiting for water to nourish seed that you haven’t planted, it’s time to reevaluate if you are planting, how much seed to sow into the ground, and where we are sowing seed. Our fruitfulness isn’t just connected to how much seed we throw on the ground but ensuring that we are planting it in the right ground.