Peace
One way to reap a harvest of righteousness.
I absolutely love the harvest season. That’s easy for me to say because I’m not the one doing the work of harvesting. I just eat it!
There are some things that you can’t grow for me. There are things you can share with me, but I am responsible for my harvest. If I want to reap a harvest of righteousness then I must plant for it. James 3:18 shows us how.
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18 NIV
I love how the Good News Translation puts it. “And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.”
Seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.
I want that kind of harvest!
This time of the year makes me wish I had planted…something…a tomato plant…anything! I feel that way when I see the productivity that comes with planting and then harvesting the fruit of hard work.
But while I was in Oklahoma ministering recently, the pastor mentioned that a man in his church had just planted the last of 1500 acres of Winter Wheat. I was intrigued.
While bushels and bushels of apples
and pumpkins are being sold in Farmer’s Markets across the country. Farmers in Oklahoma and Kansas are planting their wheat. So while it’s too late to plant a pumpkin, now is the perfect time to plant something else.
Now is the perfect time to plant peace…
it’s harvest is righteousness…. HELPS Word Studies describes righteousness as “what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes.”
We plant peace from the overflow of a peace filled heart.
We plant peace in relationships…in beautiful places…in hard, difficult places. But God gives the harvest and He’s not stingy!
I believe the little boy that gave his lunch basket to Jesus told everyone he met…for the rest of his life…all about the lavish blessings of Jesus. So thankful that we get to serve a God like that.
Peace is more than a feeling…it’s a person-Jesus Christ.
His name…speaking His name with the recognition of who He is brings peace. Jesus is still and will always be the Prince of Peace. When I speak His name in awe and reverence I can access His peace so I can become a peacemaker.