Withhold Not Thy Hand

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

The instruction in this verse is about consistent, thorough, indiscriminate effort. The picture this verse brings to mind is one of a farmer who has a very large field that needs to be seeded. Some parts of the field will bring forth more abundantly than others, but when the field is freshly plowed it all looks the same. The farmer cannot always tell by the shades of color in the dirt which areas will be most productive this year. If he could, he might be tempted to skip the areas that will not bring forth much fruit. In life, we can’t always tell which endeavors will be successful. We go from one responsibility to the next, not knowing which will be productive and which will fail. Solomon is telling us that we need to give our best to each task all day long because we never know which one will bring forth a great result.

Jesus used the example of a sower to teach us about sharing the gospel with others. In His parable, the sower sowed everywhere, even on the pathways. When we go out to share the gospel, we should share it with everyone. We need not look at a situation and try to predetermine whether the people will be receptive to the plan of salvation. There is no way to tell who will listen and receive Christ, so everyone needs to hear.