Sowing for Tomorrow
Most of us would have one way or the other prepared ourselves or someone for the morrow or any future event. A mother prepares her children’s uniform, food for the next schooling day. A man who wants to go on a long journey takes his car to the mechanic for checking and servicing before he proceeds on his trip; couples who are to get married take time to plan their wedding ceremony and years of married life. A man who secures a job today begins to think about his future when he would be out of job. A typical farmer observes the season, he knows when to till the ground, sow his seed nurture the plant with sole aim to make a bumper harvest. Unconsciously or consciously when a man is born he begins a series of journey and preparation for his death and ultimately the life hereafter. Fundamentally every of man’s future event is planed for today. There is a common saying “Today is the tomorrow we talked about yesterday” this statement draws a sharp relationship between the past, present and future. It shows the link between today’s action or inaction with tomorrows success or failure. Every man who wants the best result for tomorrow will plan today. Similarly any man who does not want the best or is not concerned about himself and his future will abandon to plan today.
UNIVERSAL / NATURAL LAW OF EXISTENCE
Sowing and reaping is an almost perfect analogy of life. We can hardly do better than to see life as a process of sowing seed and reaping a harvest. A seed requires a measure of faith and insight. In a handful of small shriveled seed is the potential to feed you for a season, and thereafter the world for centuries. It is not an easy thing to believe that amazing potential. Likewise, figurative seed and sowing today demands a measure of faith and insight. It is hard to be convinced that today’s few words, thought and actions, have the potentials to affect our future enormously. There are various ways of looking at the theme sowing today and reaping tomorrow. Lets look at the different principles.
YOU MAY SOW WHAT ANOTHER REAPS – John 4:37 – 38: Jesus before he met the Samaritan woman sent his disciples out to go and fetch venison when they returned he told them I sent you to go and reap where another man has sowed. Signifying that they were morally authoritatively empowered to reap from another man’s sweat and labor. Although the future success of a man does not solely depend upon inheritance. Anyone who receives and inheritance knows what it means to reap what another has sown.
Children became wealthy overnight, drive flashy cars, become landlords and mange estates and business empires first because of inheritance from their parents. Our local church this great Movement is another examples. We enjoy accredited and confirmed membership today because few far – sizeted souls, we call them PIONEERS once began to assemble in little numbers. Inspite of the tribulations and trials in Nigeria. They respected and enclosed the heat of those days and obeyed the voice of our great Jehovah. They remained faithful to the call sowing the seed that we now reap the late General Evangelist received the commendation that “His few years of tireless effort has spread the fire of righteousness in that part of the world”. (Letter Page 19 and Letter Page 157).
Another examples shows the done sick of the principles a little child dies of AIDS. The little, innocent child has reaped what either of the parents have sown.
What are you sowing today, that someone else will reaps in days to come?
YOU MAY SOW WHEAT AND REAP THORNS – Jeremiah 12: 13: What you sow your enemy may destroy where good seed was sown, some thing bad may grow. Jesus spoke told a parable about the kingdom of Heaven likened unto a man which sowed a good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. (Matt. 13: 24 – 30).
Parents ought to do everything possible to train up children the way they should go, yet one child way fall into bad company and become a criminal. How many parents have spent all their future, time and energy to give their children the best, yet one child may be a heartbreaker by taking to dash dark side of life. Those who have sown good seeds are mindful of how ready the enemy is to destroy their labor and its fruits, and to leave them with a harvest of thorns.
YOU MAY SOW THE WIND AND REAP THE WHIRLWIND – Hose 8:7
A wife or husband thinks that a little flirtation is harmless, only to find, that it develops into a shattering of lives and relationship. A young boy may start with one stick of St Morris Cigarette in the dark but later finds out that he’s a chain smoker, cocaine or heroine addict. A beautiful young growing girl believes that the best thing in life always happen to her in the dark and in the absence of her parents. She believes the lies told her daily by an irresponsible man. She certainly reaps more than she discovered and bargained for unwanted pregnancy, abortion and in some cases death. Thus the saying goes :The evil that men do lives with the women” These examples have sowed all their wild oaths – going through a period of irresponsible pleasure seeking while young. They have done what they like today and what they do not like has happened to them.
YOU REAP SPARINGLY IF YOU SOW SPARINGLY – 2 Corinthians 9:6
The more good we sow the more good we reap. Let us be generous and bountiful in sowing good seed. Your small labor of love and sacrifice, seemingly such a small seed, might produce an management harvest of good. You never know. Also if you sow with tightened hand you’ll reap with tightened hand also.
YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW – Galatians 6:7-8
This natural appears to be one of the most accepted of all the principles. The reason is simple. We all see God as a true Judge and a rewarder of all man’s action. No seed can produce except after its own kind. The scripture says ….. for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
A fundamental fail remains and nobody can disprove it. This journey of Jehovah’s way we are treading gives full approval and commendation .
SPIRITUAL AND BODILY BUILDING
One of the two consequences must surely be prevalent.
- We either develop and train ourselves spiritually and bodily so that we can rise through the various spiritual grades.
- We will be above difficulties
- We will conquer satanic powers and temptations and must be wealthy and healthy
- We will be above temptations and supreme to wealth, health and bodily activities
- We will be bound to perform miracles and wonders and see far and wide and discuss with God Jehovah
- We will prepare ourselves a place with Christ as our king
- We degenerate and debase ourselves as pigs spiritually and bodily so that a little child in our midst can observe the consequences of our activities. The choice is ours. Many of us have refused to grow abandoning our Holy Spiritual grade and plunging ourselves into abyss of condemnation and doom. (Letter page 198 and 195). The things that are happening to us now as a group, are the harvest of thoughts, and actions sown in the past. What are we harvesting today, parent who are sick of stroke, BP, paralysis, diabetes, cancer etc. retrogression, poverty, death lack, failed marriages, disjointed and disintegrated families. Not that we would not be sick or oppressed. But with God’s help we can learn how to care for those who are struggling. We can discover how best to care for fellow brethren, those outside the church and not the least ourserlves.
Oh brethren !!! what a seed sown yesterday that we are harvesting today and leaving behind a legacy of failure for our children tomorrow.
LAYING A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR TOMORROWS SUCCESS
We all need to lay a solid foundation in our homes, marriages and families so that our offspring will enjoy peace tomorrow. In the church, we all need to be devoted and dedicated to the calling so that we can preserve this precious treasure handed over to us for posterity and humanity. Above all we need to invest in education, human and capacity building if we are to reap the benefit from the society structure tomorrow.
EDUCATION: Education both formal and informal is a tool like money that provides one with an option to explore and exploit the vast opportunity the society offers.
Our supreme brethren say children of the Peace Movement should be educate to face future with accurate discipline. All the prince movers of the world and civilization are those who are learned and wash in their field. Even from the scriptures, Paul who had wide education and was learned had a greater responsibility and played a great role in the advancement of Christianity to the Jews and Gentiles. He had great flow of words; the depth of divine truth and revelation regarding Christ were revealed through. He wrote the highest number of books in the New Testament so, the man who is educated is at an advantage. This should not create a complex or bias in our midst. After all some never had the opportunity to go to school; while some had it and squandered it. Education is a sure and guaranteed way to blossom in the future. Lets give the children good education today, lets pursue it to its full height. Even the old ones are encouraged to go to school. You never can tell if what you need to bring out your full potential to humanity is that little into education you receive today.
THE BEST TIME TO SOW FOR TOMORROW IS NOW
Andrew S. Grove a business executive Said “The most important things of tomorrow are probably going to be things that are overlooked today”. An Anonymous writer says “never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”.
Sleep, procrastination and slothfulness are negative vices that intubits sowing while sleep can sometimes be a good tool be success. It is a very strong agent to a man’s destruction. God gives sleep to his servant to devotes calmness, wellness, confidence and dependence. But when issues require proactive and positive actions, men ought to lay themselves sleep; put on their thinking cap; murder the night and avoid being lazy. Remember the story of Jesus and his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane. He came out hoping to see them watching, he was surprised to find them sleeping. He cautioned them ….. “ can’t you watch with me ….” Whenever men shut their eyes and sleep instead of working, there will always be a problem to solve tomorrow. So lets take the initiative now as procrastination is said to be the thief of him by (Edward Young).
A sample of an average youth and the kind of job he does shows that there is just no plan or consideration for the future. A lot of youthful vibrant energy and time is wasted just to enrich the employer with little or no incentive for the employee’s future. We need to redirect our energies and thinking as we work for others we need to work and invest in ourselves. Let us not sleep or be slothful but let us come up with creative ideas. There is no force so powerful as an idea whose time has come.
PROMISE OF LIFE AND THE OPPORTUNITY IN LIVING
One mistake our fathers, the Pioneers of the Peace Movement in Nigeria made was their inability to understand the principle of opportunity in living. During the civil war crisis they were contented with the promise of life, but failed to look out for the opportunity that followed. They were concerned with “ No man no juju ……; No single hair will drop out of your head. They looked at life; protection but failed to see and explore hidden opportunities which others did not see. They never understood God’s plan. Whenever God gives a promise of life. He gives an opportunity to make the life more fulfilling whenever God brings men to judgment and captivity, he keeps a remnant to rebuild and restore. Whenever God forces men’s knees to the ground, he keeps and strengthen lip to praise Him. Noah lived at a time when evil was great in the earth. Men were wicked to their fellow men. You could not sow and expect to reap. You could not gather for yourselves organ family. Noah and his family had the promise of life. He built the ark and was saved from the floods. After the floods he came out and saw the opportunity of living. He built a vineyard, he farmed and to his greatest surprise he was able to harvest and process the fruit of his harvest. He made wine and drank until he became drunk and naked. The opportunities we have in life can either wake or mar us. If we live greed; covetousness lust and an insatiable penchant for material acquisition then we must fail. Our earlier brethren were rebuke for having a wrong perspective of God’s prophecy of destruction to the nation. “Many of you had estimated the devices of destruction thereby thinking that you are not God at all and all your imaginations are in vain. Instead of you to estimate it, quit from evil wickedness of your heart in order to escape the destruction” (Letter Page 89).
Our counterparts in the world are in an uncertain. They have the opportunity but are not certain about life to enplore these opportunities (Letter 14 Page ) tumie is come when a wizard man will say, now I will plan for my future and my children’s future but there will be no single day left for him” (Letter 21 Page 142) warned all unbelievers “you are preparing for future, but future is no more! You say tomorrow” I will do this and I will do that” But your proposition is taken away. Opportunity has to do with the propositives, initiatives we take today in order to give life meaning and achieves its greatest fulfillment. We have both the promise of life and the certainty of opportunity. (Letter 7 Page 28) gave us that blessed assurance. “All of you being members of the Peace Movement who are pure in heart we are directing the Holy Spirit of God to give you all happiness, all health, all wealth, all wisdom, all cleanliness, all satisfaction from now on even forever and ever through Christ our savior, Amen. For many of you who were molested, you will not lack anything you wish yourselves through Christ our savior.
BE SURE THIS MUST HAPPEN
Does God lie? The only time when God speaks or give a promise and it becomes unfaithful is when the heart of men does not receive the truth. Lowis Pastear (French Scientist ) says “Chance, opportunity favours only the prepared minds. The inability to see the window of opportunity in the midst of the promise of life can be a great factor in determining the success and future of any group of people.
Letter 21 Page 142 says “All you believers you have to decide either to surrender your wealth and your bodies to Christ …… is this not an irony, how can a man give his wealth if he is not given the opportunity by Christ; how can a man surrender his body if is not in good health; how will a man be wealthy when all around him will be beak. We have the promise of life and an assured opportunity, let us put aside our doubts and problems and make the best out of the blessed assured life.
God has a strategy to unleash his wealth. God’s way is the way of gradual, sure growth and maturity, moving toward perfection. It can be compared to an airplane during take off. If the trajectory is too low, then time will overtake it, the plane will run out of run way and crash, or it will get a fen feet off the ground and not rise fast enough to avoid the trees or buildings. People are the same. If their goals are too low, too stretched out and easy they will never rise to any significant potential before time overtakes them. On the other hand if the pilot sets the exponent in his take off pattern too high and the plane rise too steeply. It is likely to shake and crash. The same is time with people. Set your economic growth too high and you will shall, try to make a child learn too much too flash and he will become discouraged and give up. Though nothing is impossible with God, the Lord’s plan for us is to set realistic goals with what he has given us. He want us to have goals that are demanding enough to keep us occupied, but not taxing and to stick with them long enough for them to come to function.
As I conclude, I will like us all particularly the old to take a while and pause, let us ask ourselves if we can role back the hands of time, if we have the opportunity to live life again. What are those things and aspects of our lives that we would like to sow properly. The various answers will be a guide to every youth today as we prepare for tomorrow.
The youths of today we should not and cannot afford to make the mistakes of yesterday if we have to secure our future. We should know that we have the blessed assurance of life. So let us explore all the avenues and opportunity that will brings us to our full potential success does not just come as a platter of Gold, neither does it come by the spirit of compliancy, carelessness and illness. It comes about by devotion, dedication, hard-work, commitment, planning, high level focus and dependence on God. We have to be daring; adventurous, explore heights and depths, and be able to see opportunity where others do not. That is only when we can have a fulfilled life on this earth.
If we plant honesty, we will reap trust.
If we plant goodness, we will reap friends.
If we plant humility we will reap greatness.
If we plant perseverance we will reap contentment
We plant hardwork we will reap success
If we plant forgiveness, we will reap reconciliation
If we plant faith in Christ, He will give us a bountiful and that we should have a fulfilled life.
If is God’s will that we should live as respected men and women of God on this earth.
It is God’s will that we should sow and reap the fruitage of our labor.
It is God’s will that we should sow today so that the future of our children will be bright and sparkling.
It is God’s will that we should be remembered by what we have done
It is God’s will that we should be leaders of tomorrow
Let us not allow this opportunity to pass us by. LET US LIVE A GODLY LEGACY BEHIND AND FOR POSTERITY.
PEACE ON EARTH!
Images from google image.
