Bearing Seed

Most of my life, I have had "provision issues." By that I mean that one of my greatest fears has been that God would fail to provide more than just the bare minimum required for my survival. Fortunately, it is only me (and not God) who has these issues.

In the beginning, immediately after what we generally think of as the original creation, we see God’s statement regarding provision. He said, more or less, "Every fruit that bears seed, I give to you for food." This may seem elementary to you, but it’s a pretty big deal to me.

Perhaps I can use some of our basic fruits as an example. An apple tree produces a fruit, and we need the seeds within the fruit in order to grow more trees which will provide for us in the future. Meanwhile, you’ll notice that we aren’t going without. We put the seed back in the ground, and use the fleshy protection of the seed for food. He has provided for us both in the present and in the future, by giving us everything that bears seed.

Included in His provision, apparently, are the various grains, which are different than the fruit trees I mentioned earlier. These grains produce so many seeds that we can easily afford to set aside some seed from this harvest for planting in the next season. God has every intention of meeting our needs in the present and in the future, and He makes provision for both–we need only cooperate.

In the past few years, I have seen this in amazing reality in my life, particularly in the area of finance. I’ve never been a good one for saving money. It seemed always a waste to put perfectly good money in a bank, where it was doing nothing. Yet I wanted some biggish things in life. How was I ever going to have them if I didn’t save up my money?

The Lord brought me to a little passage in Proverbs that says something like, "He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him." I said to myself, that’s a pretty good deal. I’m going to do that. And I did.

Putting your seed in the ground really is an act of faith. How do you know if it will grow? Maybe it will rot, and not only produce nothing, but not be available for food, either. How do I know that the Lord will come through at the right time?

But He did. Had I salted away my few hundred dollars a month into a savings account, I’d be hundreds of thousands of dollars behind where God’s miraculous provision has brought me. God isn’t "into" paying interest–He’s given us everything that bears seed. He wants us to plant the tiny seed that He’s given us, so that the earth can cause a plant to grow and bear a hundred-fold.

He’s provided for today–and for tomorrow, too.

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