God’s Abundant Harvest

God’s Abundant Harvest

Consecrated Saints, with Gods Help, Creating Increase and Surplus

by Aaronic High Priest W. Kevin Romer

Vol. 20, Number 1 Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr 2019 Issue No. 77

In May of 2018, I met with the young children who live at Bountiful, teaching them that God is a God of abundance.

Bishop Joe Ben Stone, the property and farm manager for Bountiful, acquired some very unique seed corn called Hickory Cane. It is a Heritage variety that is non-GMO (genetically modified organism). Because of its rarity and the demand for Heritage non-GMO varieties, it sells at a premium.

I met with the children and explained to them the value of the seed. I explained how God is a God of abundance and asked if they would be willing to each plant a seed and take care of it until the plant was fully grown. They all agreed. I then went on to explain that, if they took good care of it, one seed would grow into a plant that would grow from one to three ears of corn, and each ear could have over 200 seeds. That equates to a 200 to 1 return! Banks only offer .02% to 1% return at today’s rates. Whose plan is more abundant?

The harvest for each child varied:

James Kreutner 6 yrs. old 165 seeds
Elodie Kreutner 3 yrs. old 270 seeds
Lydia Purvis 7 yrs. old 210 seeds
Adeline Purvis 2 yrs. old 187 seeds
Charlotte Purvis 6 yrs. old 242 seeds
Isabel Sisk 10 yrs. old 198 seeds
Robert Sisk 9 yrs. old 181 seeds
Arianna Sisk 4 yrs. old 315 seeds

Our Bountiful harvest averaged 221 seeds per ear of corn; a 221 to 1 increase! Offering 10% as a tithe on that increase would be 22 seeds, leaving 199 seeds on the average. If we plant the remaining seeds this spring, and get a similar harvest, the average yield would be 43,979 seeds per child; a return on that original seed of 43,979 to 1 increase! Offering 10% as a tithe on that increase would be 4,398 seeds, leaving 39,581 seeds on the average.

God created the seed and provided the rain and sunshine, without which the plant would not have grown. The children understood that 10% of the increase (above their needs) belonged to God and would be offered as tithing. Next, they discussed what they wanted to do with what was left over. Some wanted to buy different things, from toys to food, and others wanted to help the poor and needy. They would each have to decide what was important and what was not important to them. They would then give the remaining surplus, perhaps as much as 50% of what was left over after their “just wants,” to the storehouse to help those in need as well as the church.

The 50% given to the church as seed will be used in the farming operations at Bountiful. To God be the glory as we learn to see God’s infinite abundance and learn to live as stewards over his creation.