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Sow What you want to Reap
By Pastor Alton Burrow
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2: Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall come upon the earth.
Don’t let evil prevent you from doing what is good and right. It seems that Solomon is admonishing us to go ahead and not be afraid to extend our hand of dispersing and giving because he reminds us that we will find it somewhere in our future. He says to do this because we do not know what evil shall be upon the earth. That which you are sending out in the good days may very well be your saving grace in the evil days that will come upon this earth.
Proverbs 3:27: Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Joseph was helpless in the pit that his brothers put him in and he was helpless in the prison where he was placed because of injustice. When his brothers stood before him and he had been lifted to a place of authority and power, he extended a hand of mercy and wept because Joseph was full of love and compassion. He could have been bitter, and if anyone had a right to be bitter, it was Joseph, but he would not take the low road, but instead do what was right and feed those who had meant him harm. The hearts of many people are not revealed until they are put in a place of power. No one knew Hitler was so evil, but when placed in power, the evil emerged. Was it there all the time, or did power give him a platform to reveal what he really was? He had power in his hands to do good, but chose to do evil, and history is not kind to this evil tyrant.
Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Just as an incubator’s heat breeds the creature encased in the egg, the heat of the troubling circumstances in which we find ourselves will cause the dormant leaven to rise that may have been in us all along. The heart is something we must guard very carefully, and not allow evil to enter into. Satan has a seed that he would love to sow in us that will bring out our worst side that we never knew existed in us. It takes the right environment for the seed to grow. Two months ago, we may have never given it the time of day, but now we may be ready to entertain the thought and allow it to grow. Pride, exaltation, and an un-repentant, unforgiving heart may very well be the breeding grounds that bring forth the revelation of the heart. Many times, we believers think that we cannot be touched by these things, but we must not kid ourselves! Satan has a trap that will fit all of our feet if we are not watchful and guarding the contents of our hearts.
I know; “it will never happen to me.” I have heard this said as I gave warning to the individual who said it, only to see them end up doing what they had all intentions of never doing.
Send out only what you want to return, but let it be portions of good things, because it will come back. When it returns, it will come back either to bless you or haunt you.
Pastor Alton R. Burrow is the Senior Pastor of Praise and Worship Center, located in Raeford, North Carolina.
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