Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 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 11:1-6
Casting our bread upon the waters is to sow of the word of God. It is an incredible and effective work that we cannot always see and understand.
We at the Church of God are so richly blessed with God's word in lessons and preaching and personal study. Our resources for studying God's word are almost limitless. Sometimes, in the magnitude of so much readily given to us, we can lose sight of the need that is still out in the world around us. A majority of people don’t get the bread of life fed to them as we do. There is still 40% of the world that gets nothing: not even a crumb. Sowing the word of God is more valuable and vital in this world than any other work. We must not lose sight of how valuable the word is. During the early church age, the Roman government was persecuting the Christians. The Christians would secretly meet in the catacombs- a long running matrix of hallways under the city of Rome. They would write scriptures on the walls to guide the true Christians to the meeting place. The scriptures had such a powerful effect that those trying to persecute them would follow the scripture trail and often be convicted by the Word of God as they read. The Roman government's opposition was hindered because the effect of the gospel was so powerful, many of them were getting saved. When a soul is exposed to the word of God it has a definitive effect on them. As everyman hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4: 10
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 1Cor. 12: 4
A spiritual gift is given exclusively for the work of sowing the gospel. We don’t all have the same gifts, but we all can do small things that will help take the load off someone else and free up their time. In Acts 6, we read of a need that the early church had in the care of the widows. This was an important need, but the apostles, who were called by God to preach the gospel, prayed and sought out faithful men who could carry out this needful work. In verse 4 they said, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." The publishing of the word is a multi-faceted endeavor. It involves every one of us in one degree or another. We may think what we do is just a little thing, that it is not important, but we would be amazed at the help it is to others. There are a lot of things being done in the work of the gospel that many are not even aware of; there are great efforts being made to get the word of God out to the lost and dying world. Because of this "unawareness" of the works that are going on, there is potentiallly no sense of urgency about what is needed in the way of helping those efforts move forward with strength and effectiveness. Yet there is a great urgency, for the opportunity will not always be there. Souls are in the balance! Ecclesiastes 11: 4 speaks of those that observe the wind and the clouds to determine whether or not they will work. But God says these will not sow and neither will they reap. If we are only observers and not workers we will not have a harvest. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 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.
We may not see how the word is working in people’s lives, yet it is vitally important that we continue to work. Because we cannot always see the results of our labor, there is a strong spirit of unbelief that attempts to work upon us. We need to truly trust that our faith and obedience to sow upon the waters and to share our testimony with souls, will bring back a harvest even though we may not know where. The devil knows this for a fact; if the word gets sown and the gospel gets spread it will do something. He knows the reality or that. The whole context of our scripture reading in Ecclesiastes 11, is about "cause and effect" in reference to casting the bread upon the waters and the way the word of God works. We must grab hold of this by faith and keep the work of God as very precious.
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalms 68:11
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