We are to cry out not only for what we have sown but also for what others have sown before us. Notice John 4:38: “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors” (NKJV).
In the covenant of increase God has made through Jesus, we are to reap beyond the seed we have sown by reaping where others have labored.
What does it mean to reap where others have labored? Throughout history there have been men and women of God who have sown their offerings, their time, their families, and even their own lives for the Gospel. There have been many missionaries who have traveled to foreign lands to take the message of Jesus and have never seen the kind of personal harvest or revival that their sowing should have produced.
They were faithful people who did not see the reality of their harvest, yet they sowed in hope and in faith. While fulfilling the dreams God had placed in their heart, they gave but did not receive in their lifetime. Their reward in heaven is a great reward, but the seed sown in the earth has not been harvested. The enemy kept them from receiving, but their labor was not lost.
The eternal nature of spiritually sown seed continues to wait for someone to reap. The seed they have sown is still alive. Now, Jesus has sent us to enter by faith into their labor and reap where they have sown.
In Deuteronomy 6:10-11, Israel is told that God will bring them into the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
“…to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant” (NKJV).
Again in Joshua 24:13, God refers to this land saying, “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant” (NKJV).
The land of promise was full of blessings which they did not earn but had to pursue and receive. The promise to Israel to live in the land of blessing belongs to us also. God provided a land of milk and honey for Israel, but they had to go in and possess it.
When both the reaper of the harvest and the harvest itself cries out, something is about to change. To cry out to God is not to beg or complain to Him but rather to appropriate His Word and receive His promises by faith. We simply declare that His promises are true and the harvest is ours now. We cannot allow the enemy to continue to withhold what is rightfully ours. Go in and possess it today.
