Seedtime and Harvest for Finances (and everything else)

Hello everyone, last week on my podcast I talked about whether a Christian should tithe.  That was a very important discussion because the vast majority of churches teach that Christians should tithe and that if you don’t you are cursed and robbing God.  As we saw, there are several reasons to tithe, and because of them I tithe and I do agree that everyone should tithe.  But I think we should teach tithing correctly and not improperly use fear of punishment or curses to encourage people to tithe.  That full teaching about tithing is on the Byron Howell Ministries podcast, and please consider listening to it.

While tithing is probably the number one financial teaching in the Church today, the second most common financial teaching is called “seedtime and harvest.”  The simple idea behind seedtime and harvest is that if you sow a financial seed God will bring a financial harvest into your life.  While this core idea is Biblical, this concept has been improperly taught and abused widely.  I’m not saying that everyone who teaches seedtime and harvest abuses it for improper financial gain, I’m just saying that such abuse has happened before.  Furthermore, the concept of seedtime and harvest, as it relates to finances, isn’t always taught very well, and verses are misapplied in such teachings, which results in confusion and inappropriate practices. 

All of that said, seedtime and harvest is the single most important financial teaching for a Christian to understand.  We must study the relevant verses, we must understand how it works, and we must operate in this process.  In my teaching today I will endeavor to take a clear look at some of the relevant verses and help you understand the basics so you can begin to correctly operate in God’s system of seedtime and harvest for your finances.

To truly understand seedtime and harvest as it applies to your finances, we need to understand it generally.  Seedtime and harvest is one of the most important principles and paradigms in the Bible and in all of reality.  You must first understand that seedtime and harvest is not a financial principle, it’s a universal principle that has financial applications.

(Genesis 1:11-12 NKJV) - Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

In the beginning God created various plants that would be food for humans and animals.  As part of the growth process for these plants, they would produce seeds.  The seeds would produce new plants, which would produce new seeds, and so on.  One seed, if properly cared for, can produce a whole forest or a whole orchard, for example.

After Adam and Eve fell, God pronounced a curse upon the earth, and while this curse may have made farming more difficult, the system still worked and the earth still produced.  After the flood, God makes a noteworthy statement.

(Genesis 8:22 NKJV) - "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."

So we know that seedtime and harvest is an important process for the earth, and that God wants this process to remain a part of our natural existence as long as the earth remains.  While most verses in the Old Testament regarding seedtime and harvest focus on farming, we do see in several verses that this principle has other applications.

(Proverbs 11:18 NKJV) - The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.

(Proverbs 22:8 NKJV) - He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,  And the rod of his anger will fail.

(Hosea 10:12 NKJV) - Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

In fact, a careful read of many verses about sowing and reaping in the Old Testament reveals that this principle goes far beyond farming, and actually applies to many areas of life, if not every area. 

Here is the problem - many teachers try to teach seedtime and harvest but they jumble all the verses together.  So when a verse might really be talking about one application of this principle, they use it regarding another.  Commonly, people will take one verse about seedtime and harvest and apply it to their sermon on finances.  Yes, sometimes that works and is correct (especially when the verse is about farming), but sometimes it’s not.  And for you to apply correctly one of the most important Biblical principles to your life, you need to understand what the Bible says about it clearly.

From the verses in the Old Testament, and from our general knowledge of farming, we know that a person can sow various types of plant seeds and reap harvests of the same plants.  In the verses from Proverbs and Hosea, above, we see that a person can sow righteousness and reap such harvests as mercy and rewards from God.  We also see that a person can sow iniquity and reap sorrow.  As you study the Bible, you will see many types of seed that one can sow to reap many kinds of harvests.  The verses don’t always use the terms “sowing and reaping” or “seedtime and harvest” but the principle is seen throughout the Bible.  And when we come to the teachings of Jesus, we start to see that this principle is more applicable and important than we ever realized.

(Mark 4:2-9 NKJV) - Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

That passage I just read to you is known as the “Parable of the Sower.”  The Parable of the Sower is found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8.  I highly encourage you to read it several times and study it in extreme detail.  We will not be able to analyze every aspect of this parable here, but we should discuss a few points before moving on.  Before we continue, let’s read Jesus’ discussion of the parable, later in Mark 4.

(Mark 4:13-20 NKJV) - And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

Notice the astounding statement Jesus makes at the beginning of His explanation.  He basically tells the disciples that if they don’t understand this parable they won’t be able to understand any of the parables.  I’m not even going to suggest I understand the depths of that statement, but let’s all agree that means the Parable of the Sower is extremely important and has extremely broad applicability to Jesus’ teachings.

Now let’s notice the next two sentences where Jesus says “the sower sows the word” and that the word was “sown in their hearts.”  If you will understand these sentences, you can begin applying seedtime and harvest to every area of your life.  With respect to this super important teaching from Jesus on seedtime and harvest, the seed is God’s Word, and the soil is your heart.

The single most important application of the seedtime and harvest principle is for you to sow God’s Word into your heart. 

Consider this, your entire Christian life started when someone sowed God’s Word into your heart.  Someone preached the Gospel and you received it.  You protected it.  You didn’t let the devil steal it.  You didn’t let persecution from your friends of family uproot the Word from your heart.  You are still here, you are still committed to God, you are still pursuing His plan for your life.  You haven’t let the cares of this world, improper desires or the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word in your life.  For many of you, the Word is also now bearing fruit in your life.  You’re serving, helping, teaching, or working for God’s Kingdom one way or another.

You probably know some people who have fallen away from the faith.  I have two friends that were very devout Christians for a short time, in their youth.  Then they fell away and now, as far as I know, they have no relationship with God in their daily lives.  I’m not sure why they fell away and why the Word failed to produce.  My suspicion is that the cares of this world just choked the Word and so it couldn’t produce any fruit in their lives.  Whatever the case, it’s very sad when that happens.  But it hasn’t happened to us and it’s not going to happen to us.

While this teaching does apply to the preaching of the Gospel and people getting saved and growing into fruitful Christians, it also applies to every other area of our lives.  We need to sow all of God’s Word into our hearts.  We need to sow His Word concerning relationships into our hearts.  We need to sow His Word concerning finances into our hearts.  We need to sow His Word concerning love, integrity and honor into our hearts.  And then, when things happen to try to steal or choke the Word, we must protect it and its growth so that the Word seed will produce fruit in every area of our lives.

My friends, that’s how it works.  You sow all of God’s Word into your heart, and if you will protect it regardless of what comes your way, and if you will follow its teachings, then God’s Word will produce fruit in every area of your life.  That is the most wonderful and powerful application of the seedtime and harvest principle. 

If you will adopt sowing all of God’s Word into your heart, and protecting it so that it bears fruit, as one of your foundational life principles, you will truly see God’s will in every area of your life.  Furthermore, you can successfully operate in every other application of the seedtime and harvest paradigm.

As a Christian who has sown God’s Word into your heart, you will then understand the right seed to sow in every other area of your life.  You will correctly sow love, righteousness, peace, gentleness, mercy, wisdom, patience, and every other Godly seed into every area of your life.  Now in many ways, these seeds are also God’s Word, because you are sowing them based on God’s Word, and you are expecting a harvest on them based on God’s Word. 

Just as a simple example, you sow Godly love into your family relationships and you expect loving and happy relationships with your spouse and children as a harvest.  You have sown God’s Word regarding love into your heart.  That Word of love is now bearing fruit in your life and you are correctly loving others.  That love is also acting as a seed into your home and into the hearts of your family members, and it’s going to bring a harvest of love into your life.  Praise God, isn’t this such a wonderful paradigm.  Remember what God said in Genesis, the plants produce seeds that will reproduce after their kind.  I know you’ve also heard Galatians 6:7 which tells us we will reap what we sow.  If you sow God’s Word into your heart, you are going to reap God’s Word in your life.   Glory to God!

I want to briefly discuss how to mechanically sow God’s Word into your heart, just in case it’s not obvious.  In the Parable of the Sower and its explanation, Jesus is pretty clear that the sower sows the Word by speaking it.  Now I do, of course, believe that reading the Bible is another way that we can sow God’s Word into our hearts.  But rather than get too theoretical I like to do what the Bible is obviously teaching, and the Bible is obviously teaching us that we should speak God’s Word into our hearts.

For a variety of reasons, it’s important to have a confession, a group of verses and declarations from God’s Word that you speak over your life.  Also, as you read God’s Word, as the Holy Spirit leads you, you should be ready to speak that Word out loud and into your heart.  You know that feeling.  As you read the Word, something just grabs you and you want it for your life.  Take a quick pause in your reading, and then calmly listen to the Holy Spirt for how to speak that verse into your life.  So for me, I’m going to regularly read God’s Word to keep sowing it into my heart, and, for those verses that really jump out to me or resonate with me, I’m going to speak them out loud.

Before I move on, I just want to point out one more aspect of this process.  When you sow God’s Word, you are sowing an unseen seed into your life.  It’s not like farming when you sow a physical seed and reap a physical harvest.  God’s Word is spiritual and is unseen.  Yes, your actions might be seen, but God’s Word is sown into your heart, and all of this takes place in the spiritual realm.  But when the fruit comes in, the fruit is seen in the natural realm.  So God’s Word grows from the unseen realm into the seen realm.  Yes, there are undoubtedly spiritual and unseen aspects of this harvest as well, but this harvest will be seen in the physical manifestation of God’s Word in your life.  If you want to start changing every aspect of your natural life, you need to start sowing all of God’s Word into your heart.

As I’ve suggested, there are many different kinds of seeds we can sow, but the most important seed is God’s Word.  God’s Word is the seed we must sow into our hearts so that we can have God’s will in every area of our lives.

Now let’s discuss the application of seedtime and harvest to our financial lives.  Many people take the Parable of the Sower and immediately use it to talk about finances.  While, of course, the Parable of the Sower has application to our finances, the Parable of the Sower doesn’t talk about money as a seed, and we don’t sow money into our hearts.  So if we just use this parable to talk about finances, without more explanation, we do people a disservice.  What we actually must do is sow God’s Word concerning finances into our heart, and with God’s Word concerning finances correctly sown in our heart, we can start correctly sowing financial seeds and reaping financial harvests.

Learning to apply seedtime and harvest to our financial lives starts rather easily, if one starts in 2 Corinthians Chapters 8 and 9.  In 2 Corinthians Chapters 8 and 9, Paul speaks to the Corinthians about financial giving to other believers in need, and he starts applying the seedtime and harvest paradigm to such giving at 2 Corinthians 9:6.

(2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NKJV) - But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

In this passage we get a lot of guidance about sowing and reaping with our finances.  Just the basic fact that he is applying sowing and reaping to finances is the best point to start with.  We have seen verses that talk about plant seeds, verses that talk about various behavioral seeds like righteousness or iniquity, we then saw that God’s Word is the seed we must sow into our hearts.  But now we see that our money is another kind of seed, and a money seed can produce a money harvest.

We won’t take the time to cover every verse here, but of course you should spend time studying all the verses about seedtime and harvest.  The most important financial principle the Bible presents is that of seedtime and harvest.  You may be a doctor, a lawyer, a salesman or any other type of worker, but your primary occupation should be sowing and reaping in the Kingdom of God. 

God is “He who supplies seed to the sower” and God wants you to cheerfully sow bountifully so that you will reap bountifully.  God wants you to reap so much so that you have an abundance for every good work.  That means that you have enough to keep sowing wherever God directs you to sow, and so that you have enough harvest to do your good works that He has prepared for you according to Ephesians 2:10.  Some of your good works are actual actions you will take for the Kingdom of God, and some of your good works are good financial seeds you will sow for the Kingdom of God.  God wants you to have more than enough so you can do all of your good works.

In fact, through your sowing and reaping, God wants you enriched in everything to all liberality.  That means God wants you so blessed that you can regularly and abundantly give to others.  Furthermore, your giving is going to cause thanksgiving to God. God wants to show His love to others through your giving.  God wants to give you seed for you to sow, which is going to bless others, which is going to give Him glory, and which is going to result in financial harvest into your life, which will result in sowing more seed.  That’s how it’s supposed to work.  In fact, that is supposed to be the dominant financial paradigm of your life.

Again, you may have a regular job, most of us do, but sowing and reaping should be your primary financial focus.  Sowing and reaping is truly a blessing, a gift from God, so that we can always have financial stability and abundance in our lives.  Your sowing and reaping can operate to bring you a harvest regardless of what’s going on in the natural realm.  The Kingdom of God doesn’t suffer famine, it doesn’t suffer drought, it doesn’t suffer times of lack.  Regardless of what’s going on in the world around you, you can be abundantly sowing and reaping.

In fact, as this world gets crazier and crazier, this teaching is becoming more and more important.  In this year, 2023, God is teaching me more than ever about sowing and reaping.  God is trying to fully remove me from dependence on the world’s economic system.  God is leading me to sow more and to reap more.  For too long I have been solely focused on my law practice to meet my needs.  God has really blessed me through my job, and God has brought tremendous harvests through my law practice, but God wants to expand my economic mentality away from just my day job, and I know He wants to do the same for all of us. 

Now I would note that 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 do discuss giving money to other Christians in need, but there are a number of other verses about giving or sowing to our Christian leaders.  Exactly where you should sow your financial seed can be a complicated subject, but it doesn’t really need to be.  The Bible is pretty clear that we should help others who are less fortunate or in need, especially Christians in need.  The Bible is also pretty clear that we should sow into the lives of those who are teaching us God’s Word.  If you are a member of a church, it’s certainly right to sow into that church.  If certain teaching ministries really help you understand God’s Word, then you should sow into those ministries. 

You should pray and ask God about where to sow your financial seed.  Regardless of where you sow your financial seed, you should always consider your money sown into the Kingdom of God.  You might be giving money to a particular minister or ministry, but really you are giving your money to the Kingdom of God.  If something bad happens with that minister or ministry, that doesn’t mean your money was wasted, that doesn’t mean your seed won’t produce.  Of course, if a ministry fails because of a moral error or some other problem, that’s terrible, but don’t think that problem impacts whether you will receive your harvest.  You sowed into God’s Kingdom, and His Kingdom is always good ground.

As we continue to discuss financial seedtime and harvest, let’s talk about some of the mechanics for sowing and reaping.  In my last podcast episode I talked about tithing in detail.  Tithing is a particular type of seed that invites particular harvests, and if you didn’t listen to that message I encourage you to do so.  I do believe in tithing, and I believe that is one kind of sowing seed, but I also believe in deliberately sowing and reaping.

If you have a need, you should sow a seed.  I know that sounds cliché.  I also know that sounds like a cringy thing a preacher might say to try and take your money.  But it’s still the Biblical truth.  If you want to go through life like most of the world and trust in your job for your provision, you are welcome to do that.  God still loves you, but that’s not God’s economic system.  God’s economic system is seedtime and harvest. 

I need finances in my life, and so do you.  I need a place to live, a car, food, clothing, and all sorts of other stuff for my kids.  You can say that a person doesn’t “need” a lot of stuff.  But my definition of “need” isn’t what will keep me physically alive, and that shouldn’t be your definition either.  I “need” every single thing that I will use to accomplish all of God’s plan for my life.  Yes, I know God could work it out so that people simply give me every single thing I need and I don’t need money at all, but that could present all kinds of issues.  Bottom line, the world runs on money and we need money.

My point is that I have lots of needs, and I need to operate in God’s system of seedtime and harvest.  So I need to start sowing and reaping regularly.  I sow as God leads me to sow.  I sow when I feel God tell me to help with those in need.  I sow into the lives of those ministers and teachers who help me understand God’s Word.  And I reap.  I reap harvests of money through my job.  I reap harvests of people being generous with me and blessing me in various ways.  I reap harvests of God’s protection over my life and finances.  I’m not just going to sow when I have a specific need come up either, I’m going to sow and reap as a lifestyle.  Seedtime and harvest with God is my primary economic source, not my job.

Let me tell you a few quick stories.  In February of 2015 I wasn’t doing so well financially.  I had been practicing law on my own for a couple of years, but I wasn’t doing great at that time.  I had a lot of deals I was working on, but none of them was closing for one reason or another.  That month was the worst month I had in a long time.  Someone gave my wife and I a gift card, so we went to The Capital Grille.  At the restaurant I saw my pastor and his wife eating with another couple, I didn’t say anything to them, but I knew that this was my opportunity to sow.  I’ve never told him this story, by the way.  So we anonymously paid for their meal.  Well, that seed immediately began producing a harvest, and March of 2015 was the best month I had ever had up to that point. 

In early 2021 I sensed the Lord telling me to reorganize my work in some ways.  He also spoke to me about significantly increasing my giving to a particular ministry.  When God speaks to you in this way, it’s important to have the right perspective.  God never calls on a seed unless He’s also thinking about your harvest.  God wasn’t commanding me to give that money, He was inviting me to do so.  You should also remember that, if God calls for you to give sow a seed, He’s really providing for it anyway, you just need to be obedient.  Remember, according to 2 Corinthians 9:10, God “supplies seed to the sower.”  So I started sowing at God’s direction, and the moves God told me to make resulted in 2021 and 2022 being the best years I’ve ever had.

God has truly and miraculously provided for my family for all these years, and we’ve done a lot and been through a lot, but 2023 has been an interesting year for this self-employed real estate lawyer.  January of 2023 was the first time in years where I didn’t make the money I needed to cover my monthly expenses.  As I was driving one day and listening to Pastor Bill Winston speak, the Holy Spirit spoke to me.  He said, “you know what to do, sow a seed.”  So I sowed a seed.  The very next day one of my clients sent me the largest and most complicated deal I have ever worked on.  That deal became a significant source of income for me throughout most of 2023, and I’ve made more than enough in every other month of this year.  But, and I’m just being honest with you now, proportionately I’m sowing more than ever.  I’m also studying seedtime and harvest more than ever, and I’m using my faith for my finances more than ever.  I’m pretty excited about it really, because this is the year where I will truly move over to a seedtime and harvest first mentality, and I know that’s the mentality God wants us all to have.

I hope you would agree that we have learned a lot about seedtime and harvest today, both with respect to its financial applications and with respect to its other applications.  With our remaining time together I want to briefly mention a few issues that one should keep in mind.

First, the intersection between the money verses on seedtime and harvest and the other verses on seedtime and harvest is a complicated issue.  A nuanced discussion of that topic would probably take longer than we have taken here today, and I don’t want to suggest I completely understand it.  Suffice it to say that a lot of the verses about seedtime and harvest do have application to your finances.  You will reap what you sow.  If you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully.  You should reap and sow even in famine and when conditions aren’t right.  There are seasons where you will predominantly sow and there are seasons where you will predominantly reap, although there are other verses that indicate we should be sowing and reaping in every season.  The point is that you should study these verses to understand seedtime and harvest in every way.

Another very important issue is the intersection between the Parable of the Sower and financial seedtime and harvest.  I believe the best way to describe this intersection is to encourage you to sow all the financial verses into your heart, especially those on seedtime and harvest.  You want the seed of God’s Word to produce in your life, including all of God’s Word regarding your finances.  So while you may have sown financial seed, you did so based on the seed of God’s Word which you had already sowed into your heart.  You didn’t just sow because someone begged you to give.  You didn’t just sow because someone compelled you.  You sowed because you are a sower and God’s Word regarding seedtime and harvest is now bearing fruit in your life. 

It’s not just the money seed that produces a harvest, that’s the wrong way to think about it.  It’s your faith in God’s Word regarding that money seed that produces a harvest.  Your money seed doesn’t automatically bring money into your life.  Your faith in God’s Word, combined with your financial seed, brings financial harvest into your life.  If you don’t have any faith in God’s Word regarding seedtime and harvest, then your entire seedtime and harvest operation is subject to failure.  I encourage you to listen to my other teachings on faith to make sure you have your faith in God’s Word correct as you begin sowing financially.

In the same way that sowing will be a deliberate act, reaping is also a deliberate act.  It’s true that some harvests sort of just show up.  Your business has more customers, you have some really lucrative transactions, or you get a raise.  Your job is a very easy way for you to receive financial favor and harvests from God, even though He is doing it through your clients or other business relationships.  But don’t confine your harvest to your job.  After you sow, you should be praying for your harvest.  Then stand in faith while it grows.  Make faith declarations for your reaping.  “In Jesus’ Name, I sowed _______ seed to ________, and in Jesus’ Name, I receive a harvest of _________.”  Use your faith for your harvest.  In the same way you would expect a particular harvest for your Word seed that you sowed into your heart, you should expect a particular harvest for the financial seed you sowed into the Kingdom of God.  I know some people won’t like this teaching, but it’s the right thing to do.

Lastly, we need to remember that seedtime and harvest is a process that can take time.  Obviously, we want the time to be short, but God is the “Lord of the Harvest” (Matthew 9:38).  God sees and understands every aspect of your sowing and reaping.  Be patient.  Don’t dig up your seed.  Stay in faith for your harvest.  Don’t let anything steal the seed of God’s Word out of your heart, and don’t let anything rob you of your financial harvest.  Though it may tarry, wait for it.  Financial seedtime and harvest works because God’s Word says it does.  So stay patient and in faith, you will get your harvest. 

Seedtime and harvest is an extremely important Biblical concept.  One could easily write a long book about it and all of its different applications.  While we certainly haven’t covered everything about seedtime and harvest today, I do believe we have covered the most important aspects of this process.  Furthermore, I believe we have correctly separated the concepts of seedtime and harvest for God’s Word and seedtime and harvest for finances.  They are closely related with a number of overlapping issues, but they are still separate.  When you start studying them as separate issues, you can understand both of them more easily, and then you can better understand how they work together.

God wants you to sow bountifully and He wants you to reap bountifully, and that’s true with respect to His Word and your finances.  He wants you to sow them both bountifully and He wants you to reap them both bountifully, so that you “always have all sufficiency in all things and you may have an abundance for every good work.”