REAPING + SOWING = REJOICING

READING: JOHN 4:27-38

Verse 36: “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.”

In this verse the Lord Jesus is describing the ideal result that is achieved when His order is respected. In our human experience, however, it can be frustrating for a sower if a crop is not reaped later. It is also frustrating for a reaper to expect a crop only to learn nothing has been sowed. Likewise in our spiritual experience similar situations can occur. From one perspective, a person may initiate or establish a good work that someone else may complete. From another perspective, a person may see a result obtained but did not get to see it through from the beginning. From either perspective, both can feel unfulfilled and that they are suffering loss. Then of course there are times when some are blessed with the completeness of both reaping and sowing. Regardless of which scenario applies, this verse establishes the Lord’s divine intention and provision. Even in cases when we experience only one alternative or the other, we are to still be fully blessed. Instead of being locked into one sided viewpoints, in Jesus those in both positions are able to rejoice together. That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. Are you inclined to prefer one of the possibilities over the other?

2. What can the reaper and sower agree upon that brings them together in rejoicing?