In a hidden oasis in the most remote landscape of the desert, was the old man Eliahu, on his knees next to some date palms. His neighbour, Hakim, the wealthy merchant, stopped at the oasis to water his camels and saw Eliahu sweating, while he appeared to dig in the sand. “How are you old man? Peace be with you.” “And with you,” answered Eliahu, without leaving his work. “What are you doing here, in this temperature, working with that shovel?” “Planting,” answered the old man. “What are you planting here, Eliahu?” “Dates,” answered the old man, pointing to the palm. “Dates!” answered his neighbour, and closed his eyes as he listened to the craziest thing. “Hot weather has damaged your brain, dear friend. Come, leave that work and let’s go to the store for a drink.” “No, I must finish sowing, and then if you want, we will drink.” “Tell me, friend, how old are you?” “I don’t know, sixty, seventy, eighty, I don’t know. . . . I have forgotten it. But, what does it matter?” “Look, friend, dates take more than fifty years to grow and only then it will be in the condition to give fruits. I’m not wishing you ill will and you know it. I hope you can live to a hundred years, but you know that you can hardly reap what you are sowing now. Leave that and come with me.” “Hakim, I ate the dates that others planted, others who didn’t dream to try them. I’m sowing today so that other people can eat dates tomorrow. And if I do this only in honour of this unknown person, it is worthy to finish my work.” “You have given me a great lesson, Eliahu; let me pay you for this teaching,” said Hakim, placing in the hands of the old man a leather bag full of coins. “I thank you. You see, sometimes this happens: you predicted that I wouldn’t reap what I was sowing. It seemed true. Although, look; I haven’t finished sowing and I reap a bag of coins and the gratitude of a friend.” “Your wisdom amazes me, old man. This is the second lesson that you are giving me today, and maybe it is more important than the first one. Let me, therefore, pay you also for this lesson with another bag of coins.” “And, sometimes this happens,” continued the old man, extending his hand to touch the two bags: Sow – not thinking to reap – but before I finish sowing, I reap not once but twice.” “Enough, old man, stop talking. If you keep teaching me things I won’t have enough to pay you.”
This simple story illustrates the importance of sowing and reaping. The wise king, Solomon illustrated this truth in the following way: “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.” Ecclesiastes 11:1, NIV. From this short Bible verse comes the so-called “investment law.” The New International Reader’s Version says: “Put your money into trade across the ocean. After a while you will earn something from it.” This is the same law that the Master taught, talking about the planting of the grain, although He added another interesting ingredient: the quality of the land.
Wise Solomon knew very well how to apply this “investment law;” the king sent ships to the sea and after three years they came back, full of wealth. In this way he multiplied his property (1 Kings 10:22); he literally cast his bread upon the waters.
Chapter 11 of Ecclesiastes is full of advice that helps us to be knowledgeable in money matters, without forgetting that we are only administrators of the possessions that the Lord has given to us. The Spirit of Prophecy states: “We are but stewards, and on the discharge of our obligation to God and man depend both the welfare of our fellow beings and our own destiny for this life and for the life to come.” –Education, p. 139
However, “investment law” is so vast that it doesn’t apply only to financial or commercial issues, as mentioned in the case of King Solomon; but it is a principle, applicable to all the areas of the human being: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, etc. If you invest time in your relationship with God, if you pray and read your Bible, you will be applying investment law in your spiritual life; if you dedicate time, money and effort in your educational goals, you will be investing in your intellectual life; if you take time to spend with your wife, children, parents, and family in general, you will be investing in your relationships, in your emotional state. A balanced implementation of the “investment law” in all areas makes us healthy and growing Christians as stated in Ephesians 4.13: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
How does this “investment law” relate to the public meetings held in Calgary? We have been sowing in Calgary; we have been applying the “investment law”. We have had the pleasant company of many sowers and spiritual investors. The Lord has given us a wonderful time in the work of sowing through the meetings entitled “Abundant life”.
This entire project began to be developed several months ago with the support of the Canadian Field, the small local church and the interested people who also contributed with their grains of sand for this event. With the publicity spread and the date almost upon us, the people we invited arrived. Brother Morris Lowe and his wife, Sister Sharon Lowe, were the first to arrive at the Calgary airport on Thursday, May 26th. A few minutes later we saw Brother Henry Dering through the international arrival gate. Everybody was happy. With my wife and my son we welcomed them to the city of the Stampede.
That same afternoon, after the arrival of the brethren to Calgary, we went directly to the radio station. We thank God that we were allowed 30 minutes on the air. We opened the program as usual and as soon as we made the introduction to the program for that day, Brother Dering announced the content of his meetings. He was very practical and simple and, at the end of his talk, we received two phone calls on air from listeners who had questions about home; it was very exciting. The second part of the program was conducted by Brother Morris who told us about chronic diseases and what to do for healing. He also told us about the content of his meetings. Our time on the radio, in the company of Julio who is the official host of the program, was very pleasant.
But, it didn’t finish there. When we finished our program, we were invited by the host of the following program, who gave us time to talk about the themes for the meetings. We also talked about a very interesting topic: What happens after death? The talk was very interesting, with questions from the speaker and answers from the minister about this theme which intrigues so many people. The truth was expressed with clear, simple words so that any listener could understand.
This took place on the first day after the arrival of the brethren to Calgary.
During the meetings on Friday the 27th, Saturday the 28th, and Sunday the 29th, there was a nervous atmosphere as is natural in these types of activities, with the desire for excellence in every detail of the meetings.
Everything was ready. The meeting room was beautiful; soft music encouraged the participants to elevate their hearts, and all the responsible people were in their respective places. We then prayed, asking the Lord to bless the meetings for the benefit of the salvation of souls. Interested people arrived one by one, until the meeting room was filled. It was beautiful to see the interested people willing to receive the word of truth in their hearts.
Every act, every intervention, every theme, every gift was a blessing during the three nights. Health themes were the responsibility of Brother Morris Lowe, and were very useful. Each night he talked about a different theme: hypertension, diets and diseases, alcohol and chronic diseases. Brother Dering had three spiritual themes of interest: How to save your marriage, one minute after death, and story of Jesus, all told with great enthusiasm.
But the most touching thing happened during the last meeting. After prayer by Brother Morris, before the start of the third meeting, and during the call made by Brother Dering to those present, most of the participants raised their hands and stood, as a sign that they wished to accept Jesus into their hearts. This scene was very touching because we saw God’s power acting in the hearts of those that made a decision for the truth. The most solemn moment of the evening was when we prayed all together, led by Brother Dering. We prayed for the souls making decisions and wanting to follow the way of the Lord.
All of the evenings were really wonderful. Now we have the work of continuing to invest: Investing time and effort so that these souls would continue to walk in the way of the Lord and become firmly established through the study of the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we ask for your support in prayers for this field of work. We invite you to join us in prayer and fasting every Wednesday for the needs of the newly converted people.
Dear Brethren in the Lord, never consider the effort too great for Christ’s sake, never forget the sacrifice that our Lord Jesus made, because it was the biggest sacrifice; He INVESTED in us and His blood is the price paid for our redemption. . . . Invest in and sow seeds in the souls that don’t know the Lord. Give everything for the One who loved us first, because at the right time we will reap fruit for His glory.
Finally, we want to express our deepest gratitude, mainly to our Captain, Lord Jesus, His Holy Spirit and the angels from heaven that helped us in our spiritual endeavours. Also we want to thank the Canadian Field Committee who supported this project. We also thank the Brethren from the local church who cooperated in every detail of the meetings, and of course, Brother Henry Dering, Brother Morris Lowe and Sister Sharon Lowe who contributed their talents for God’s glory. May the Lord bless you richly.
Elder Hernandez