The laws of sowing and reaping were established by God at creation. Everything multiplies after its kind and all living creatures instinctively seek to grow and multiply.

The laws of sowing and reaping that apply to nature also apply spiritually. A healthy plant or animal will be growing and multiplying, and so too will a healthy church. In fact, actively seeking to increase the number of Jesus’ disciples is part of the church’s mandate. However, we must recognize that it is the Lord who builds His church and adds to it “such as should be saved.” How much of church growth is our responsibility and how much is God’s?

Our responsibilities can be summed up in two words: going and sowing. As followers of Jesus, we have been commanded, “Go ye therefore and teach all ations.” (Matthew 28:19) We have to go out into the world for the definite purpose of making disciples of Jesus. We do that by sowing the seed of the gospel as we are going. “God ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

God’s responsibility is to do the growing. Just like a farmer may till the soil and plant the seed but he is dependent on God using the forces of nature for the growth of the crops and fruitfulness of the harvest, we are dependent on God to make our ministry fruitful. As Paul wrote, “So then neither is
he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7) In 2023, we need to be busy sowing good seed and trusting the Lord to give the increase.