TEXT:

‘For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you’ (2 Corinthians 9:10 NLT).

Our garden is usually full of colour, except in the winter. All we can see now is the odd primrose and our amazing Daphne shrub. Thank God it’s not going to stay that way, as hidden bulbs begin to push up through the cold, wet soil during the last days of Winter. Within a few weeks our garden will be transformed as daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinths and the Camelia bushes burst forth into colour, letting us know that Spring has truly come!

This teaching is aimed to create hope for 2026, through God’s Word being planted and bearing fruit in our lives. Our text says, God will provide seed for planting and bread for eating. Bread represents the efforts of yesterday’s harvest, whereas seed speaks of a future one. With God’s Word being likened to seed, Today’s Teaching focusses on the effect it can have in our lives.

1. Is what you are reading, feeding you?

You may be a prolific reader, but is it doing you any real and lasting good? Many Christians struggle when reading the Old Testament, and can even end up avoiding it altogether, but it is just as inspired as the New Testament.

Although there are many passages that at first sight appear confusing, that does not have to stop us from reading them. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand it and to show you something that will help you. You’ll be amazed when the Holy Spirit opens your eyes. This is the great blessing God intends for those who read His Word. We can see new truths even from familiar passages we have read repeatedly.

If what you are reading or listening to is not having a positive effective on you, then stop. When you feed on the negative, you will become negative. God intends faith to rise when you read His Word. Jesus warned about those who, ‘Strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!’ (Matthew 23:24). For example, the feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all four gospels, with each writer naturally having a different eyewitness account. Some believers get sidetracked into unbelief by the differing views, instead of recognising the miracle and allowing faith to rise in their hearts for their own needs. When faith rises, “Can God?” becomes “God can!”.

2. Are you planting God’s Word that you are reading? – ‘Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You’ (Psalm 119:11).

Is your heart good soil for the faith-producing seed to be sown in? Perhaps in the days to come you will see green shoots of Biblical truth you had forgotten had been planted.

I’ve got a heart-shaped pouch which contains seeds, but I don’t know what flowers will grow. I was given it as a memorial of a friend who had died. I will plant it soon and hopefully create a little patch of colour in my garden.

God’s Word is likened to seed. It will reproduce what it is in our lives. If we will do the planting, then God will surely do the growing and ensure there is a good harvest.

3. You can plant God’s Word anywhere and at any time

Two verses of scripture confirm this: ‘Happy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters (when the river overflows its banks; for the seed will sink into the mud and when the waters subside, the plant will spring up; you will find it after many days and reap an abundant harvest)’ (Isaiah 32:20 AMPC) and ‘Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season’ (2 Timothy 4:2).

Don’t let the devil stop you from witnessing by saying, “Don’t speak about Jesus, they don’t want it, they won’t receive it.” Give people the opportunity to react to it. ‘But a few joined him and became believers. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the City Council, and a woman named Damaris, and others’ (Acts 17:34 TLB). This was probably the least harvest Paul experienced on his missionary journeys, but he gave them the gospel and let them decide what they were going to do with it. As a result, some believed. We are not responsible for people’s reactions and responses.

4. If something is missing from your life, find out what God’s Word has to say about it, and start planting those seeds

When Jesus went to Nazareth, He was hindered from doing miracles because of their unbelief. So, He went around teaching faith (See Mark 6:5-6). Then He sent out the 12 apostles to reap the harvest.

God reminds us that we don’t really know how a seed grows, just the fact that it does. That’s the wonderful truth about biblical promises. I don’t have to make them grow. All I have to do is plant those faith seeds and let God bring them to harvest.

Finally, if we plant good seed into good soil, nothing can stop it from turning into a good harvest. In 2026 believe for more. God has given the seed; it is His word! Will you go and plant it in your life and in the lives of others, saved or unsaved?