Hosea 8:7: “They sow the wind, / And reap the whirlwind. / The stalk has no bud; / It shall never produce meal. / If it should produce, / Aliens would swallow it up.”

October 31st, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

We reap what we sow. This is a familiar, reoccurring theme and principle found in both the Old and New Testament. While it is a simple illustration from farming, it has profound spiritual meaning. God was telling Israel that they had been sowing the empty wind of idolatry for decades, so they should not be surprised that they were about to harvest, reap, a whirlwind of destruction.

Seeds are also full of dormant potential; they can be stored for long periods of time, remaining undeveloped and seemingly dead; but when they are planted in the right climate, under the right conditions, they suddenly begin to grow and mature. The old maxim correctly says, “Anyone who can count knows how many seeds there are in an apple, but only God knows how many apples there are in a seed.” One apple has the capacity to grow perhaps a 100 apple trees, and each apple on each of those 100 trees can in turn produce a 100 more, and so on and so on. Just how great will the multiplication in future generations be of the spiritual seeds you and I plant today? Are you currently struggling to continue sowing and planting spiritual seeds, friend? The psalmist reminds us:

Those who sow in tears / Shall reap in joy. / He who continually goes forth weeping, / Bearing seed for sowing, / Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, / Bringing his sheaves with him. (Ps. 126:5)

Sowing can be difficult, but reaping is a joy; and in order to receive the joy, we often have to encounter some sorrow.

“LORD, we ask You to use our meager efforts to serve You today and multiply them to impact eternity.”