From the archives of Oral Roberts
I was raised on a farm until I was fourteen years old. I knew how important seed planting was. To produce a crop, we first plowed the ground, then planted seed for cotton, corn, and other things. As the season progressed, we hoed and cut the weeds away, cultivating the soil so the seed could grow and multiply. When harvest time came, it was time to rejoice as we sold our crop to pay off bills, buy new clothes, and put seed away to plant another crop the following spring.
I’ll never forget when I connected natural sowing with reaping in a spiritual sense, linking it with what the apostle Paul called “giving and receiving.” He said in II Corinthians 9:6: He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. I could hardly contain myself when I saw that sowing and reaping―giving and receiving―go hand in hand! Enthusiasm for giving burst within me. I hadn’t been that excited since I was saved, healed, and called to preach.
You see, I had been raised in a church where the pastors taught giving, but they said nothing about receiving. In fact they taught just the opposite…that giving was a debt we owed to God, and expecting something back was selfish. But I saw a new truth based on the Bible: giving is not a debt you owe but a seed you sow! You can give out of your need and expect the Lord of the harvest to multiply your seed sown and meet your needs. Receiving does follow giving, and when you give your seed to God in faith, you can expect a miracle return!