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What Shall the Harvest Be?

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 17, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 16.

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What Shall the Harvest Be?

By J. F. Stenberg

J. F. STENBERG
The farmer plants corn in his field, and expects to harvest a crop of corn when the proper season comes; or he sows wheat or some other grain, and expects to harvest a crop of the same kind as he sows: it would be very foolish to expect otherwise.
It is the law of nature, which is God’s law, that the harvest shall be of the same kind as the seed sown; for in the beginning when God spoke the earth into existence and created grass and herbs upon it, he said, Let them bring forth seed after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
As with nature and vegetable life, so also with the spiritual; for the Word says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Man may recognize the law of cause and effect in the material or so-called natural things of life ever so well, but when it comes to moral or spiritual questions, he seems to fail to use his reasoning power, fails to realize that he must sow good seed in order to reap a harvest of good grain.
The farmer who leaves his field unsown knows very well that it will be fully occupied with worthless weeds, which are a positive harm; and that when he sows good seed, he must also care for and cultivate it in order to reap.
Why is it that people who use good judgment and good common sense in their business can be so thoughtless or careless in spiritual things? People sow weed seed in their hearts and lives,—sow their wild oats,—and still expect to reap a harvest of good grain by and by, sometime. But will they?
The Word says, “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”