Introduction. “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops” is the third parable Paul asked Timothy to carefully consider. Along with the soldier and the athlete, the farmer is also a rich vein for spiritual applications. (2Tim. 2:4-6). The earthly side is easy. From the beginning, those who tilled soil have done so in the “sweat of their face” (Gen. 3:17-19), but the reward of the work always eased the burden: “He that plows ought to plow in hope, and he that threshes, in hope of partaking” (1Cor. 9:10). By being the first to partake of the crops he received the fruit of his labor and great blessings. But what does this have to do with Timothy and with us?
This is not the first time farming was the foundation of a parable. Jesus used the sower and the barren fig tree in similar ways. In the sower (Mt. 13) Jesus revealed that fruit was the sign of a good and honest heart. In the fig tree (Lk. 13:6-9) He made the point that without fruit, the fig tree had no value at all and should be cut down. As the vine, Jesus demanded that the branches, His disciples, bear much fruit. When He said “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples,” He was emphasizing how important it was that the hardworking disciple be the first to partake of the fruits. By “partaking of the crops,” we both “glorify God” and “prove to be My disciples.” When our own hard work brings no fruit, then “every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away.” If we are not the “first to partake of the crops,” it is all in vain.
Look at the negative side first. This was Israel’s failure. They never partook of the crops! “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach: a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, Do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Rom. 2:21-28). As Stephen charged them: “you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:53).
Hardworking spiritual farmers sow the word in the fertile soil of their own good and honest heart. No one can deny that Paul was a “hard working farmer.” He told the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase.” (1Cor. 3:6). He spent his entire life sowing the seed of the kingdom in the hearts of all who would hear. Yet he was always the first to partake of the fruits: “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13).
Imagine stopping at a fruit stand and asking a farmer: “How good does the crop taste this year?” What if he answered: “Are you kidding, I would never eat that!” When even the farmer won’t partake, why would anyone else be interested?
Those who seek to influence others must first “partake of the crops” themselves. Paul illustrated the connection between hard work and partaking of the crops: “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1Tim. 4:15-16).
Some of the harshest words Jesus spoke on earth were directed against those who though “hardworking farmers” had no intention of “partaking of the crops” themselves. “Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.” (Mt. 23:4, 25-28). “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites:” “you cleanse the outside of the cup” “but inside are full of extortion and self-indulgence,” “you are like whitewashed tombs” for “you outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Conclusion. What of us? Do we practice what we preach? Are we harder on others or ourselves? Never forget: “why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?” “How can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Lk. 6:41-42). “The hard working farmer is always first to partake of the fruits!”
Look at the negative side first. This was Israel’s failure. They never partook of the crops! “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach: a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, Do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Rom. 2:21-28). As Stephen charged them: “you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:53).
Hardworking spiritual farmers sow the word in the fertile soil of their own good and honest heart. No one can deny that Paul was a “hard working farmer.” He told the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase.” (1Cor. 3:6). He spent his entire life sowing the seed of the kingdom in the hearts of all who would hear. Yet he was always the first to partake of the fruits: “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13).
Imagine stopping at a fruit stand and asking a farmer: “How good does the crop taste this year?” What if he answered: “Are you kidding, I would never eat that!” When even the farmer won’t partake, why would anyone else be interested?
Those who seek to influence others must first “partake of the crops” themselves. Paul illustrated the connection between hard work and partaking of the crops: “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1Tim. 4:15-16).
Some of the harshest words Jesus spoke on earth were directed against those who though “hardworking farmers” had no intention of “partaking of the crops” themselves. “Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.” (Mt. 23:4, 25-28). “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites:” “you cleanse the outside of the cup” “but inside are full of extortion and self-indulgence,” “you are like whitewashed tombs” for “you outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Conclusion. What of us? Do we practice what we preach? Are we harder on others or ourselves? Never forget: “why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?” “How can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Lk. 6:41-42). “The hard working farmer is always first to partake of the fruits!”