3/11/2018 – Resting and Reaping – Part 4 – Pastor Steve Blayer

The Sabbath year – reveals the fruits of seed left in the soil from the unharvested produce of years past – what seemed like a waste now becomes provision for the harvester

Lev 19:9-10  you shall not reap to the very corners of your field… the gleanings… the fallen fruit… you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger

  • Deliberately leave some work unharvested – save some time, energy and resource for those in need (Preaching Good news to the poor!
  • Leaving the gleanings for the poor – is where the harvest would be going to seed – providing food for Sabbath year

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

What is something (or someone) for which you labored long and hard, but now feels like a waste because it seems like “harvest time” has passed and you don’t see the fruit of your labors?

Col 3:23-24      do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men…

When we view all of our work as being “unto the Lord,” we can never be taken advantage of. When our motive is love, even if we are “robbed” by others God receives it as a Love offering to Him.

John 21:15    Simon…do you love me? Tend my lambs.

Prior to his three denials, Peter’s motives in ministry were self-seeking, self-advancing, and self-righteous. Having been humbled by his failures, he realized that all he really had to offer Jesus was his choice of love.

Look at areas in your life in which you feel weary or discouraged.

Are you motivated by love, or are you weary for seeking a reward of some sort?

 

Luke 6:34-35

It is better to give without expecting or receiving anything in return. Any labor for the Lord not harvested here and now becomes a harvest for us to reap in eternity.