CASTING OUR BREAD ON THE WATERS

CASTING OUR BREAD-IN TRUST
Eccles. 11:1 (ESV)
Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.

“The time for sowing seed in the Nile delta in the years before controlled irrigation was to wait until the annual inundation and then, as the waters went down, to cast the see onto the waters. It would disappear into the soil then being deposited. But, in due course, it germinated and produced a rich harvest.” - Keddie

We as Christians must be willing to put ourselves out there. We must be willing to "cast our bread", whatever time, treasure, or talent that might be, and see what the Lord will do in return to our faithfulness and trust.

Are you afraid you have nothing to contribute? You do
Are you afraid you lack the gifts and graces? God has given you what you need.
Are you waiting for someone else to do it? Don't wait
Does this seems like a big risk or gamble? It is no gamble at all.

GIVING A PORTION- WITH ABUNDANCE
Ecclessiastes 11:2-3
[2] Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
[3] If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

I think the Reformation Study Bible notes at this point are pour, compared to what other commentators say.

Give and serve freely, generously. Because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You opportunities may be gone, or you may even be the person in need of grace.

Ecclessiastes 11:4
[4] He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Don’t wait around for the right opportunity.

SOWING OUR SEED – IN SEASON AND OUT
Ecclessiastes 11:5-6
[5] As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
[6] In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Hosea 10:12 (ESV)
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

2 Tim. 4:2 (ESV)
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Mark 4:18 (ESV)
And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,

Galatians 6:9-10 (ESV)
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Psalm 126:5-6 (ESV)
Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
[6] He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

“Christian, make your life a clear testimony. Be you as the brook wherein you may see every stone at the bottom-not as the muddy creek, of which you only see the surface-but clear and transparent, so that your heart's love to God and man may be visible to all. You need not say, "I am true:" be true. Boast not of integrity, but be upright. So shall your testimony be such that men cannot help seeing it. Never, for fear of feeble man, restrain your witness. Your lips have been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as like heaven-touched lips should do. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand." Watch not the clouds, consult not the wind-in season and out of season witness for the Saviour, and if it shall come to pass that for Christ's sake and the gospel's you shall endure suffering in any shape, shrink not, but rejoice in the honour thus conferred upon you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord; and joy also in this-that your sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a platform, from which the more vigorously and with greater power you shall witness for Christ Jesus.” – Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Evening, Nov 7.

You might still be afraid saying to yourself “I can’t do this.”

You would be right.

Philip. 4:13 (ESV)
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

CHALLENGE

Invitation challenge
Pray and invite.

Sow broadly and leave the results to the Lord. Give all you can. Speak what you can.