“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” - Ancient Greek Origin
“Blessed is he who plants trees whose shade he will never sit.” - Indian Proverb
• Bad News: Our society is sorely lacking people with that mindset. A “me, me, me, now, now, now” attitude only sows self-serving seeds. Neither a society or a person is blessedby self-service.
• Good News: The Kingdom of God has always had plenty of people who sow for a future harvest.
“What’s the use!”
If train A leaves Chicago at noon Central Time traveling East at 40mph and Train B leaves NYC at noon Eastern Time traveling South at 50mph, from what direction and at what speed was the wind blowing in each city?
“What’s the use” comes out of our mouths when a person or problem exceeds our ability, resources or energy to affect change.
ROI thought process:
• Is this person or project worth my time?
• Is this person or project worth my money?
• Is this person or project worth my energy?
• Will this investment ever pay off? If so, when?
1. Sowing Guarantee: Galatians 6:9
2. Sowing Forerunners: Hebrews 11
3. Sowing Encouragers: Hebrews 10
Galatians 6:9 (NIV) 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
• The sowing guarantee is…a harvest.
• The condition of the guarantee is…we can’t give up sowing.
• The obstacle of the condition is…weariness in doing good.
Doing good is any act of obedience that reflects God’s character and advances His purposes.
Good seed deeds are God-initiated, Christ-empowered, and Holy Spirit-directed.
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Men in condition do not tire.” - General Patton
“The will to win is overrated – give me a kid who wants to prepare to win.” - Coach Bobby Knight
Weariness from doing good is tied to trying to sow supernatural seed in natural strength and time-limited expectations.
Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy, Orthopathy
“I don’t have enough knowledge about Christ/Christianity.” (right thinking)
“I don’t know how to share my faith.” (right practice)
The most effective approach to evangelism - loving people. (right heart)
Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV) 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:39-40 (NIV) 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
A good definition of faith is sowing without seeing.
Hebrews 1:1,2 (NIV) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
1. Our faith is grounded in the person and example of Christ.
2. Our motivation is fueled by a God promised harvest of people.
3. Our consistency is maintained through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Each time you sow a seed of movement, a harvest is in the future.
John 12:24 (NIV) “Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it remains a single seed but if it dies it produces many seeds.”
Sowing good deed seeds in the lives of others will require our death, but it will produce not just fruit but other seed sowers! That’s a faith that God commends!
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV) 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.