The Law Of the Farm

“. . . Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Cor 9:6

Martin Luther astutely observed, "There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind and the purse."  Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult.

The average charitable giving in the United States is 1.7 percent of adjusted gross income.  The average among Christians is 2.5 percent.

   -- Ron Blue

One pastor had a rather crude layman who liked to go out visiting people.  But he was rather crude, so the pastor gave him a list of delinquent church members and some church stationary and told him to write letters to all those who haven't been coming.

Several weeks later the church secretary received a letter from a lawyer with a check inside for $1000.   And enclosed was this note:

"To whom it may concern.  I received your letter and I want to remind you that there is only 1 "T" in dirty and no "C" in skunk."

What you get out of life is determined by what you put into it. (v. 6)

The Law of the Farm is simply profound.  We know it very well in our minds but are not diligent in it’s practice.  One would have to ask oneself how deeply beliefs are held if they are not practiced.  It is this.  The season of harvest is intertwined with the season of sowing or planting.  What you put in the ground will determine what you get out of it.  The quantity of the harvest is determined by the season of sowing.  The nature of the crop is determined by the type of seed that is sown.

THE LAW OF GIVING

When you give of yourself you will receive in return.

And it pays the best dividends.

There is a universal Law Of Giving which dictates that by giving you will receive.  It defies all logic.  The thinking mind cannot comprehend how this can be so because the two actions are in direct contradiction to each other.

It is a sort of paradox.  Trying to figure it out could cause you to spin in circles.  You get by giving?  It sounds absurd.  Here I am telling you to develop your thinking while at the same time I'm giving you a principle that doesn't seem to make sense.

Giving freely of yourself and your time, money, attention, etc. to others pays you the best return on your investment.  Keeping things to yourself selfishly causes what you do have to remain the same or even to dwindle.

It almost takes an act of faith to understand why this is so.  Our thinking minds will almost short circuit while attempting to decipher the concept.

Let me interchange "subconscious mind" and "heart" to make it easier to understand.  Here is what I've come up with:  The reason you receive by giving is because WHEN YOU GIVE,

IT CHANGES *YOU*, IT CHANGES YOUR HEART!

And when you are transformed on the subconscious level, all kinds of unexpected things happen.  People have been rewarded in all kinds of ways when they gave.

Relationships with people are a two-way street.  When you plant good seeds in their life, they will reciprocate by planting good seeds in your life.  The tree that grows in *YOU* as a result produces more fruit, providing more seed for you to reinvest.  It's an ongoing loop that grows, provided that you continue to plant.

I'm getting ahead of myself.  There is a clincher, one that most are not willing to try out for long enough because they are not patient and want immediate results.  The clincher is this: YOU MUST GIVE WILLINGLY AND WITH NO THOUGHT OF GETTING IN RETURN.

This ties in with planting good seeds in others.  It must be done with no expectation for reward.  And it must be done long term.  Every day.  Day after day.  Selflessly.  Cheerfully.  With a great attitude.  With a sincere desire to help others any way you can.

If your first thought is like mine was when I realized this, you are probably thinking, "Even if this did make sense, it's not fair!  People will just take advantage of me.  I don't wanna just keep giving and giving, I wanna get something in return!"  We all must undergo the change of heart that happens as a result  of adopting a giving attitude.

The return comes as a result of the hearts of other people responding to what they sense in you.  Sure, some might take what you are offering and run, but so what?  Who cares?  For every person that does this there are many others who will give you a much greater return than what you invested in their lives.

Ø      This is true in reference to abundance. 

Ø      This is true in reference to the nature of the crop. 

Some Things We Can’t Do

(1) Sow bad habits and reap a good character.

(2) Sow jealously and hatred and reap love and friendship.

(3) Sow wicked thoughts and reap a clean life.

(4) Sow wrong deeds and live righteously.

(5) Sow crime and get away with it.

(6) Sow dissipation and reap a healthy body.

(7) Sow crooked dealings and succeed indefinitely.

(8) Sow self-indulgence and not show it in your face.

(9) Sow disloyalty and reap loyalty from others.            

(10) Sow dishonesty and reap integrity.

(11) Sow profane words and reap clean speech.

(12) Sow disrespect and reap respect.

(13) Sow deception and reap confidence.

(14) Sow untidiness and reap neatness.

(15) Sow intemperance and reap sobriety and temperance.

(16) Sow indifference and reap nature’s rewards.

(17) Sow mental or physical laziness and reap a responsible position in society.

(18) Sow cruelty and reap kindness.

(19) Sow wastefulness and reap thriftiness.

(20) Sow cowardice and reap courage.

(21) Sow destruction of other people’s property and reap protection for our own.

(22) Sow greed and envy and reap generosity.

(23) Sow neglect of the Lord’s house and reap strength in temptation.

(24) Sow neglect of the Bible and reap a well-guided life.

(25) Sow human thistles and reap human roses. [1]

Ø      This is true in reference to the measure that we use.  God’s blessing in our lives is directly proportional to the blessing that we are to others in this life.

LK 6:37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. [38] Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Giving is a personal matter between you and God. (v.7)

Ø      Some people have an expectation that God should prove himself to them before they respond. There seems to be this general feeling that God is on probation in many people's lives.  If he performs well enough we will accept or retain him.

Ø      Some people’s expectations of God are much higher than their investment could possibly justify.  They are quick to blame God for all the evil and tragedy in the world when otherwise they are not much interested in Him at all.

Ø      Expectation is the enemy of intimacy.  The scripture tells us that we should give without expectation of repayment.

Ø      Our obligation list should be longer than our expectation list.  This is a recipe for solid relationships.

Ø      The attitude in giving is crucial.  God wants you to feel good about what you give to Him. Giving with glad and generous hearts has a way of routing out the tough old miser within us.  Even the poor need to know that they can give.  Just the very act of letting go of money, or some other treasure, does something within us.  It destroys the demon greed.

n      Richard J. Foster, Money, Sex & Power

God blesses his people in many different ways. (v.8-10)

Ø      The greatest blessings are the things that money can never buy. 

Ø      He blesses us with the seeds or the potential to produce an increase

Ø      He adds a supernatural blessing to the scope of the harvest.

The ultimate end is to make you a blessing to others. (v. 11)

Ø      God is not in the business of prospering people for their own good.  He frustrates people who live to further their own interests.

Ø      He looks for people who will be channels of His blessing. "Stewardship of possessions is the effect of God's saving grace upon one's self and his property.  When God gets a man with a car He gets a car to be used in His service.  Some seem to think of stewardship as a whip or as legal action to drive people to give to the expenses of the church.  No doubt too often the attempt has been made to wring generous offerings from selfish souls.  Christian stewardship most certainly is not church legislation nor a scheme to deprive men of their cash.  It is the natural consequence of an experience with God -- the natural reaction of the human heart that has been touched by the divine spirit.

n      Milo Kauffman, The Challenge of Christian Stewardship,

Ø      The test is what you choose to do when you have little to give. If you give to charity while you are poor, you will eventually give in days of wealth.  If you do not give while you are rich, you will eventually abstain from giving because of poverty.  God has willed that there be two hands in the matter of charity -- one that gives and one that receives.  Thank God that yours is the hand that gives.  Say not, "I will miss what I give."  Be like the sheep who give their wool and have no less the next year because they have given.

n      Tan Huma Rabbinic Literature

“Here’s the third key to wealth and happiness.  You must learn to handle financial pressure.  The only way not to have financial pressure is not to have any finances.  There are many kinds of financial pressure and they have destroyed many people.  They can create good, envy, deceit, paranoia.  They can rob you of your sensitivity or rob you of your friends.  Now remember, I said that they can, not that they will.  Handling financial pressure means knowing how to get and knowing how to give, knowing how to earn and knowing how to save.

When I first started to make money, I started to catch hell  for it.  My friends disowned me.  They said, “You’re into money.  What’s your problem?”  I said, “I’m not into money.  I just have some.”  They wouldn’t see it that way.  People somehow suddenly perceive me as a different person because I had a different financial status.  Some were very resentful.  So that’s one kind of financial pressure.  Not having enough money is another kind of financial pressure.  You probably feel that pressure every day.  Most people do.  But whether you have a lot or a little, you deal with financial pressure.

Remember that all our actions in life are guided by our philosophies, our guiding internal representations about how to act.  They give us the models of how to behave.  George S. Clason provided a great model for learning to handle financial pressure in The Richest Man in Babylon.  Have you read it?  If so, read it again.  If not, run out and get it now.  It’s a book that can make you totally wealthy, happy, and excited.  To me, the most important thing the book teaches is to take 10% of all you earn up front and give it away.  That’s right.  Why?  One reason is that you should put back what you take out.  Another is that it creates value for you and for others.  Most important it says to the world and to your own subconscious that there is more than enough.  And that’s a very powerful belief to nurture.  If there’s more than enough that means that you can have what you want and others can too.  And when you hold that thought, you make it come true.

When do you start to give the 10% away?  When you’re rich and famous?  No.  You should do it when you’re starting out.  Because what you give away becomes like your seed corn.  You’ve got to invest it not eat it., and the best way to invest it is to give it away so that it produces value for others.  You won’t have trouble finding the ways.  There is need all around us.  One of the most valuable things about doing this is how this makes you feel about yourself.  When you’re the kind of person who tries to find and fill other people’s needs, it makes you feel differently about who you are.  And from those kinds of feelings or states, you live your life in an attitude of gratitude.

Ø      The blessings of God come in the fullest to people who live for the good of others.

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[1]Tan, Paul Lee, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, (Garland, Texas: Bible Communications, Inc.) 1996.