What is "Sowing and Reaping"?

What does the phrase 'sowing and reaping' mean to a Christian?  

The Law of Sowing and Reaping is a law put in place by God and works every time, just like the Law of Gravity, no exceptions!  

It is a part of the covenant He made with Adam and all of Creation in Genesis 8:22, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

The earth has not ceased, summer and winter come every year, day and night are still here.  The law of sowing and reaping (seedtime and harvest) remains active.  

Sowing and Reaping takes place in every area of a believer's life, whether it be finances, time, talents, prayer, and even the words that you choose to speak from your own lips into your life.  

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  (8)  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  (9)  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."  Galatians 6:7-9

Every seed has the potential to grow and produce a harvest.  However, it is the condition of the soil that will determine the seed's growth and productivity.   The Law of Sowing and Reaping works regardless of whether you sow in good soil or bad soil, accordingly:  

"And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  (4)  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  (5)  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  (6)  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  (7)  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  (8)  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  (9)  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."  Matthew 13:3-9

It has been my own personal experience that that sowing and plowing seed can be hard work and time consuming.  However, the rewards are always greater.  Many years ago, I planted a rose garden at a house we had in Tennessee for a while.  

"I love flowers and plants.  I love growing roses.  At one time there were climbing roses growing up the side of the house, and up both sides of our porch that covered the whole length of the front of my house at that time.  Rose bushes lined the beds along the side of the house in front of the climbing roses.  Rose shrubs even filled the flower bed in front of my evergreen shrubs across the whole front of the house. The roses were carefully chosen with a strong fragrance, and different depths of red color that bloomed at the various times of the season.  Roses bloomed around the house from early spring all the way till winter frost. 

When preparing to plant them, it took six weeks of digging a six foot deep hole around the house that was at least four foot wide to be filled with a layer of fabric like lining, a layer of rocks, sand mixed with peat moss and fertilizer, and topped it all off with mulch. 

After the ground was properly prepared,  a hole was dug for each rose the width of the roots spread out over a mound of dirt in the bottom of the hole.  I added a little water, then filled in the hole around the rose, making sure that the knot at the base of the rose was just above the soil level. 

Photo Credit:  Drawing by Joy Neasley

Just as the buds began to appear, they were sprayed for bugs and diseases that are common to roses.  Each week, I went out and pruned the roses in a manner that allowed each branch to grow outwardly and produce beautiful flowers.  Every month,  they were sprayed fertilizer and disease/bug spray.  The roses were watered twice a week, to create deep roots that would be drought resistant in the summer. 

Every year I followed this routine, and in the spring, just before time for the buds to appear, I pruned the rose back to produce a beautiful plant in the spring.

   People use to pull up to the house in their cars, and take pictures of the yard with the beautiful roses.  Sometimes, they would come up to the door, and ask me how to get the roses to bloom like they did.  I gave them the instructions, just like a recipe, for growing the roses.  

I noticed though (at least, the ones that lived in the neighborhood), many of the people who asked me how to grow the roses, never even planted one rose bush.  So, what was the point in asking me how to grow them?  A few told me that it just seemed like too much trouble, or that they just did not think they could get theirs to look like mine, so why try?

They really loved the roses, but were not willing to do what it took to grow them themselves. 

If you are new to the Law of Sowing and Reaping, it may seem overwhelming to you.  You may have planted seed and expected immediate harvest, and when it did not happen quickly you became discouraged and gave up.  

The Law of Sowing and Reaping is for EVERYONE.  However, after planting the seed, you must water it (speak the Word of God, knowing that His Word always works) with God's Word, and wait.  IT WILL PRODUCE A HARVEST at harvest time, not earlier.