Sowing and reaping is the foundation principle upon which the whole Kingdom of God operates. Jesus taught on the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:26-29. It says, “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Jesus is telling us that God’s way of doing things is like a man sowing seed into the ground. In verse 14 of Mark chapter 4 Jesus said, “The sower sows the word.” The word of God is the seed that we sow. In Mark 4:15 it says, “And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” The ground that we sow the seed of God’s word into is our hearts. God’s way of doing things is to take the seed of His word and sow it into our hearts, and then out of our hearts that word will harvest in our lives. That is how God’s system operates. When we get the seed of God’s word in contact with the ground of our hearts the harvest will come.
Sowing and reaping is the principle in the Kingdom of God that believers use to get their needs met in the physical realm. Whatever we have in our lives is based on the words that we have sown in our hearts. Whatever we do not have, we have not sown the seed of God’s Word for it in our lives. Our lives are coming from the word seeds that we have sown in our hearts. Proverbs 4:20-23 says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” This scripture tells us to guard our hearts because out of our hearts comes the issues of our lives. Matthew 12:35 says, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” Whatever words we sow into our hearts will come out and manifest in our lives. This is a spiritual law. We cannot change spiritual law. Spiritual laws work for every person on this Earth whether they like it or not. If you sow good words, you will have a good life; if you sow bad words, you will have a bad life. That is why Proverbs 4:23 tells us to keep our hearts with all diligence. The original Hebrew translation says, “above all keeping, keep your heart.” Whatever words we sow into our hearts will manifest physically in our lives and that is why we have to have to put a guard over our hearts and not allow any word seeds to be sown in our hearts that we do not want in our lives.
We sow words into our hearts by hearing them, seeing them, and saying them. The ears and the eyes are the gateway to the heart. As we hear the word of God we are sowing the word of God into our hearts. As we see the word of God we are sowing the word of God into our hearts. As we confess the word of God we are sowing the word of God into our hearts. If we have a need in our lives then all we have to do is sow the word into our hearts by hearing it, seeing it, and saying it, and that word will manifest in our lives. For example, if a person has a financial need, they can take Philippians 4:19 and sow it into their heart and out of their heart that scripture will manifest in their life. There is a scripture in the Bible for every need that we could ever have. All we have to do is find the scripture or seed that will meet our need and sow it into our hearts and from that seed the physical manifestation will come to pass in our lives.
What purpose does sowing the word have in our lives? Sowing the word changes the image or the reality that we have in our hearts. If we are going to see change on the outside, there must first of all be a change in our hearts because our lives are coming out of hearts. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart so is he.” In other words the image that we have of ourselves in our hearts is who we are in our lives. If we can change the image in our hearts then we can change our lives. As we sow the word of God into our hearts, it changes our image. We need to see ourselves as the artist in our lives. Our hearts are the canvases, and words that we hear is the paint. We paint pictures on the canvases of our hearts with the words that we are hearing. The words that we hear produce an image in our hearts and the image that we have in our hearts will be who we are in lives. If a person is battling a sickness and all they are hearing is the doctor’s report that says they are sick and their unbelieving family members talking about how terrible they look, then those words that they are hearing will produce an image of sickness in that person’s heart. That person will then see himself/herself as being sick, and consequently they will talk like a sick person, think like a sick person, and act like a sick person and never receive their healing. That person has created a reality in their heart that they are in fact sick and that sickness has become more real to them than the healing Jesus obtained for them on the cross. Consequently, they never have faith to receive their healing.
As believers we have to change our image, change our reality, and begin to see ourselves in line with what the word of God says about us. Why is it so important that we change our image? The image that we have in our hearts is where we have set our belief, and ultimately whatever we believe in our hearts will come to pass in our lives. We will talk, think, and act in line with the image or reality that we have created in our hearts. If we see ourselves as prosperous then we will talk prosperous, think prosperous, and act prosperous and consequently prosperity will manifest in our lives. Our thoughts, words, and actions will be the bridge of faith that will bring prosperity into physical manifestation. However, it all starts with the right image. The problem that we have had is that we build our image from what our circumstances say and call that reality, instead of building our image from what the Word of God says and calling that reality. By sowing the seed of God’s word into our hearts, we are tearing down that old image in our hearts and building a new image in our hearts that is in line with the Word of God. The new reality or new image will produce faith and faith will go into the unseen realm and retrieve what we need and bring it back into the physical realm.
The Kingdom of God is a system that will produce results independent of the world’s system. It makes no difference how impossible our situation may look; if we will work God’s system it will always put us over. No matter what situation we are in, if we will take the word of God and sow it into our hearts that word will come to pass in our lives. We can be rich when the world around us is broke, healed when the world around us is sick, and victorious when the world around us is being defeated. Luke 6:46-49 says, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, Iwill show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.” The same storm came and hit both of their houses, but the guy who did things God’s ways prospered when people around him were failing. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 91:7, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” When we work God’s system through sowing His word into our hearts, we can rise above the circumstances of this world and prosper in spite of them. It does not matter what is going on in our lives right now, if we make the decision to sow God’s word into our heart and work God’s system we can overcome any attack that the adversary wages against us and walk our deliverance.