This summer my daughter planted a garden in our backyard as part of a school project.  She prepared the soil, planted the seeds, watered … watered, more water … until finally after several weeks we noticed a tiny sprout had burst through the soil. 

She continued to water the plants until they finally began to produce vegetables. Each row that had been carefully planted and nurtured for many weeks began to grow into the vegetables that we had hoped and planned for. 

As I watched our garden out of our kitchen window I felt God reminding me of the principle of reaping and sowing. 

The basic principle is this … you will reap WHAT you sow, MORE than you sow, LATER than you sow and WHERE you sow.

Allow me to illustrate … My daughter planted six cucumber seeds in our backyard in May. 

She reaped WHAT she sowed as we begin to see tiny cucumbers growing to maturity.  She didn't plant a squash seed and reap a cucumber.

She reaped abundantly MORE than she sowed as the six seeds yielded nearly 162 cucumbers!

She reaped LATER than she sowed. The cucs didn't come off until many weeks after the seeds had initially been planted.  

And finally, she reaped WHERE she sowed. She sowed seed in the backyard and that is exactly where the cucumbers grew. 

There is so much more than an agricultural lesson here. I love when a biblical principle comes to life right before your eyes. I have been thinking about this principle in my own life this summer. God has brought this to mind on several occasions as I began to "sow" things … Some good things and some, well … not so good. If you take this seriously and really think about what it means to you in your daily life, it can be terrifying.

I have begun to really think about what I sow. Am I sowing kindness, compassion, patience, tolerance, love? Or am I sowing unforgiveness, intolerance, anger and impatience? I think about later reaping the fruits of both. It scares me. And it should! 

So when you start your day, ask God to make this principle come alive in your life. Ask Him to bring to mind WHAT you're sowing and WHERE you're sowing. Then ask yourself, "Do I want to reap MORE of this LATER in my life?" If the answer is no, stop right where you are and sow a new seed.

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." (Gal 6:7).