You Reap What You Sow

I was once at a family gathering (kind of a reunion) in my childhood that took place in Alabama. I remember hearing some members of my family sing as song with a line it that said, "An old brimstone preacher lived long ago. His message was clear it said you reap what you sow." I always liked that line, and of course it comes from a passage in the book of Galatians. The Bible does teach that you reap what you sow. Of course we know this is true in the natural. If you go outside and plant a field of corn you should not get upset when spring harvest comes and you've got corn to pick. To go outside and expect a field of watermelon or a field of snap peas would be utterly ridiculous. As crazy as this may sound, most parents today are surprised, upset, bewildered, and distraught when they see there children get involved with the wrong crowd or in sinful activities the older they get. But the message of the brimstone preacher was right. They are reaping what they've sown.

You cannot expect to never spend quality or quantity time with a child and then have him love and adore you the same way as if you did spend such time with him or her. I cannot expect my daughters to respect my understanding and wisdom one day when it comes time for them to get married if I do not nourish and take care of them now when they are young. My sons will not want to listen to me, much less obey me when I council them not to go to a certain place or area, or not to hang out with a certain person, if I've not been diligently teaching them the commandments of the Most High all throughout their elementary years. But the opposite is just as true. The more time I take care to talk to my children, play games with them, teach them the Scriptures, sing with them, and just spend good, plain ol' family time with them, my harvest will be plentiful.

To not raise your children up properly and then expect them to do what is right in their teenage years is like looking for snap peas after you've planted corn. Parents, you are accountable for your children. If you've brought a child (or children) into this world they are your responsibility. I don't just mean that you have the job of feeding and clothing them, I mean that you have the job of training them up in the way that they should go, in the way of the law of Yahweh. It is your job to teach them diligently out of the Scriptures, it is your job to make sure that they understand the commandments and what they mean and entail. It is up to you to take time to discipline them when they err at a young age. You must "water," "pull out the weeds," "till," etc. you children, just as a farmer takes great care to make sure what he planted will produce abundantly.

I'm looking for the best harvest myself. Yahweh has given me the tools to make sure the best harvest is what I get. The tools are the books of the Bible. I am using them; I hope you will too.

Matthew Janzen