Hard-Working Farmers

In many ways, we all are like farmers. The world in which we live is our field, and our time, talent, and treasure are the seeds we’ve been given. The crops we harvest are the fruits from the seeds we’ve sown or how we’ve invested what we’ve been given.

The Bible frequently uses the picture of farmers to teach us about our lives and God’s principles. The fundamental truth is that all of us will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7), based on how we invest our resources. But Paul says that the “hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”

The word here translated “hard working” means to grow weary or tired, to be exhausted as a result of hard work. Paul was describing the importance of dedication, commitment, faithfulness, diligence, and a refusal to give up.

When the crops appear, the first people to receive their share should be the farmers who have invested the necessary time and labor, who have been dedicated, who’ve committed themselves even when they were exhausted.

As we think about these things, we need to remember that we cannot be saved by our works; we only are saved through grace (Ephesians 2:8).

But the Bible also tells us that God rewards effort. We see this, for example, in the Parable of the Talents. The men who put their “talents” to work received rewards and blessings. In contrast, the man who buried his talent lost what he was given and was called a “wicked, lazy slave” (Matthew 25:17-30).

Think about these truths in your life. Would God consider you to be “hard-working”? What are you doing with the resources you have been given? Are you being diligent and faithful?