The Key to Bountifully Reaping

2 Corinthians 9:6

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Sowing is never an easy process. When I worked in the strawberry fields as a teenager, the one season I hated was the sowing season. They gave us boxes of seedlings that we had to plant, and it was always hard work and paid less than reaping. However, without sowing the seedlings, we could not reap the plentiful harvest of the strawberries. The work it took to reap bountifully was not easy, but it was worth it when the reaping season came.

God gives the promise that you will reap according to your sowing. If you sow sparingly, your harvest will be a sparse harvest. However, if you sow bountifully, your harvest will be a bountiful harvest. I don't know about you, but I want to reap a bountiful harvest. There are four things in this sowing and reaping process that we often miss that produces a bountiful harvest.

First, there is vision. Somebody had to have the vision to believe there could be a bountiful harvest. You cannot reap a bountiful harvest if you don't have the vision for it. Nobody has had a bountiful harvest who did not first have a vision of what could be done. I think of the great preacher Dallas Billington, who told his song leader that if he built the largest choir, he would build the largest church in America. Bro. Billington had a great and large church, but it started with a vision. Every great work that reaps a great harvest starts with a man having a great vision of what will happen.

Second, there is faith. Faith is always the next step after having a vision. A vision without faith is a mirage, but a vision with faith is the catalyst for a great work. Jesus said in Matthew 9:29, According to your faith be it unto you. If you have a great vision, it will help you to reap a great faith. Your faith is according to the sowing of your vision. If you have no vision, there is no need for faith. Therefore, the greater the vision, the greater the faith is needed. Reaping a bountiful harvest is the direct result of having a great faith.

Third, there is work. Faith alone does not produce a bountiful harvest, but a great faith with works is what produces a bountiful harvest. James 2:17 teaches, Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Faith needs work to make to make its vision a reality. Those with great faith are often the hardest workers. You will only reap a bountiful harvest by working your faith vision. The harder you work, the more the harvest produces. No lazy person ever reaps a bountiful harvest. Your work effort determines the harvest. Those who reap the bountiful harvest are those who work the longest hours and work the hardest.

Fourth, there is patience. To reap a bountiful harvest, you must be patient with the process. You will not reap a bountiful harvest immediately, but you will reap it if you don't give up. Galatians 6:9 promises, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Many had a great vision and turned that vision into faith and hard work, but they were not patient with the process and quit before the bountiful harvest. If you will put the work into having a bountiful harvest, don't waste your time and quit. Quitting squelches vision and faith, and misses the bountiful harvest. Never give up working on your great faith vision; the bountiful harvest will come if you don't quit.