I sent you reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor!
What does this mean? Since we cannot properly use what we do not understand, having any misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus will cause us to live inwardly apart from their true meaning. But since spiritual values can only be gained through lively application, then these misunderstandings automatically closes us to the real treasurers of His Words. Thus, unless there is a clarified recognition, His Word for each person will remain a book of seven seals. In this light, the following essay explores my understanding of one of these statements that man has struggled to grasp over centuries, with the hope of bringing some clarity for those who earnestly seek a greater development of their souls.
To start, we ask: what does the following verse from John 4: 35-38 mean?
Do you not say, there are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, one sows, and another reaps. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. (John 4: 35-38)
Does it encourage us to take credit from the efforts of our neighbor, irrespective of whether we contributed? Does it infer there is some arbitrariness in the Laws of Nature that allows us to reap where we did not sow? Double no! For all the teachings of Jesus can only affirm the perfect Divine Justice that governs Creation and, in all things, strictly enforces the Law of Reciprocal Action, i.e., sowing and reaping.
What then, could this statement mean?
The statement speaks to the available provisions in the universe that are always accessible to the human spirit through the power of volition, which is able to attract and retain it until, through the process of their union, they are refined, transformed, and then brought to maturity. Hence, the statement is about how maturity and perfection of preexisting provisions can be achieved by the human spirit, through the joint working of the power of volition and the principle of union.
And how are we to understand this within the context of daily life? And thus apply it? Let us explore some examples of how this principle manifests.
Man and the Earth
Man as an unconscious spiritual personality is sown into the material world to develop, the same way an unconscious seed is sown into the earth to grow. To develop, the human spirit must awaken and bring to blossom its inherent abilities and talents (the parable of the talents Matthew 25: 14-30), the same way a seed germinates and matures until it yields a multiple of fruit. As its goal of inner maturity involves the ennoblement of its outer environment, the human spirit is urged to discover, make use of, and ennoble the pre-existing provisions of his physical environment; the same way a seed has to draw from the existing nutrients from the soil, and repurpose it through its own fruit-bearing germination that in turn furthers the ecosystem. Making use of the earth implies acquiring a knowledge of its characteristics and species, and then taking action to ennoble it. In doing so, man has to use the focused power of his volition to combine and transform existing elements in the material world to make it outwardly reflect the inspirations of his inner intuitions. But even in his earnest efforts to gain knowledge and apply it, he is only reaping an understanding of the natural phenomena he himself did not create, i.e. “reaping that whereon he bestowed no labor”. In this natural process, man as a spiritual being did not labor or create the sunlight, the elements, and all the earth’s resources he is allowed to freely use for the sake of his own inner development and its ennoblement, the same way the seed did not labor or create the soil and the nutrients that it needs and uses to develop! Hence, it is only given to man to sow earnest efforts, after which it is then left to the Grace of God, operating through the automatic Laws of Nature, to thereby grant him to reap the pre-existing provisions whereon he bestowed no labor! Thus, “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor!”
To prevent a one-sided picture, and to guard against the error of a wrong interpretation, we should bear in mind that the statement “no labor” does not mean “no effort”, but rather “did not form or create”. Hence, it is alluding to how we use our volition to access, combine, and participate in the transformation of what we did not create or form.
The human spirit is thus sent to the earth as a spiritual reaper and ennobler of Nature’s sowings, and is tasked with making use of everything in accordance with the Divine Will, in order to build an environment of beauty to the honor of God. Unfortunately, through giving preference to his own intellect and earthbound will over the Will of his Creator, he has sown chaos and confusion. Hence, through his own doing, man has become a spiritual grim reaper, i.e. a destructive element to all Light-building efforts. And it is in this we human beings must now change for the better.
Similar Qualities
When we meet someone and, through similar qualities, we are attracted and exchange reinforcing energy, consider: Did we sow the quality within our neighbor we are now reaping? No. Through the power of volition we only sowed what was within our soul that, through the law of attraction of similar species in the process of union, then draws from the similar provisions within our neighbor that we did not produce, i.e., “reaping that whereon we bestowed no labor”. As what we draw from others is a result of what we first sow within ourselves, what we experience through others is thus a reaping of similar qualities that is a receiving of “wages”. Hence, “And he that reaps receives wages”. And in this joining of forces that causes a more perfect experience to form through the mutual exchange of energy, whereby we experience each other, it is fulfilled, “ye are entered into their labor”. To enter into is to experience through the union of similar qualities, since what we sow in ourselves is what we reap in others. This idea is expressed in the popular saying “misery likes company”, whereby “likes” means “attracts”, so the misery sown in one attracts itself in the company of another. Thus, by experiencing mutual misery, it is fulfilled that “ye are entered into their labor”. However, if this “entering” and fructification is based on noble qualities that swings upward, then through the reinforcement of such qualities, we “gather fruit for life eternal”. That is, obtain fruits of the spirit.
Process of Thinking
What is thinking, but an endeavor to materially form and mature a basic idea through the union of similar forces? When thinking, do we create the living power we use to think? No, it just flows through us as a gift, and we use it by gathering it into the form of a completed thought. When thinking, do we form the other thoughts we attract to ourselves? No, it already existed, but through the power of volition and the law of attraction of similar species, it flows to us to reinforce our original thought. We only labored in forming our thoughts that then reaped the pre-existing thoughts (i.e., labors) in the Universe. But in this, as one man forms a thought in the metaphysical world that another later reaps through inspiration and converts into a physical deed, it is fulfilled that “one sows, and another reaps. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.”
In the previous example, we discussed the “sowing and reaping” process when people are in the same time and space, but now we can expand the concept by involving the world of thought-forms that transcends these limits. What occurs between two people in the same time and space who “sow and reap” together by exchanging reinforcing energy, occurs between similar thoughts formed by people in the world of thought-forms. Whereby, independent of distance and personal acquaintance, the law of attraction of similar species cause similar thoughts to attract, unite, and reinforce each other, until the basic thought is brought to maturity. And just like a full-term child exits the mother’s womb to enter the world, so does the reinforced thought exit the world of thoughts and reaches a goal by entering the brain of any earthman thinking like thoughts, thereby offering the thought-forms a chance to penetrate, operate, and physically manifest on earth. When this happens, everyone who contributed thoughts that participated in this automatic spiritual reinforcement process that manifested through the deed of a complete stranger, is partially spiritually responsible before the Laws of God, whether good or bad; and a part of the reaction must burden the spirit if bad, or uplift the spirit if good. Consequently, as human beings are linked together through the world of thoughts, and according to our way of thinking attract and pool the energy of like thoughts, which eventually manifests and causes a spiritual responsibility for all concerned, it is fulfilled that, “other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.”
The Notion of Inventions
When man invents something, he proudly says he “created” it. But did he really create it, or did he just discover a possibility that always existed? The Creative Source created it as a potential and placed it as a prototype in the spiritual world. Thereafter, man uses his inner being he did not create, to access the living power he did not create, in the body he did not create, that exists in a world he did not create, to access through thoughts and outwardly manifest the pre-existing potentials he did not create. Man awakens the power of volition that, through the attraction of similar forces in the process of union, draws pre-existing spiritual energy that reinforces his own. Owing to the greater strength produced by this reinforcement, the original thought then rises and establishes a connection to the treasure chambers in the Universe that stores all knowledge of the capabilities of the Divine Will, which the human spirit then receives and experiences as an inspiration that brings a new discovery of what was always there. He is reaping from the Universe “…that whereon he bestowed no labor.” He did not labor or cause the pre-existing potentials in the Universe, for his labor was just the output of energy needed to discover and reap the pre-existing provisions of the Creative Source!
Consider the following: “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26). Now as the human spirit itself is not an original, but just an image of a pre-existing original, so also is everything good the human spirit invents but an image of the original labors the Lord placed in the Universe as potentials. Consequently, through diligent efforts in obedience to the Divine Order, the human spirit is meant to continually discover and reap the ever-accessible provisions of the Divine Will, i.e. creatively manifest it in new forms. Hence, there is no such thing as inventing, only discovering and revealing what was always there!
The Main Implication
Many examples could be sighted, but the fundamental idea is the principle of pooled energy that automatically operates in Creation through the attraction and union of similar species. We exist in a Universe with ever-accessible provisions we did not create, i.e. “that whereon we bestowed no labor”, but which we can always access through the power of volition in the law of attraction of similar species. The latter, which works closely with the principle of union, allows pre-existing elements to combine in new ways that leads to a more perfect manifestation of forms. This process affirms the universal truth… “When two or more are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them”. But how? Through the relationship between love, union, and perfection.
Love is the highest power, and it is through the union of elements that anything perfect can be formed. When love is the basis, this greatest power causes the strongest attraction and firmest union of elements, which leads to perfection. Perfection through union enables a heightened experience of the provisions of the Divine Will, and this leads to a greater recognition of God. Thus, “I am in the midst of them” is an allusion to the greater power and heightened perception of the Nature of God that is produced through the union of pre-existing elements on the basis of love, i.e. “gathered in My Name”. The principle applies to everything. Even in the earthly sense, when two or more elements in the periodic table are combined, only then can all the higher forms in our material world develop, and thus something more perfect be formed and perceived through the principle of union!
What is decomposition? It is the process when the uniting energy binding elements in a form loosens, causing the elements to separate and return to their primeval state. Just like this happens in physical things like water when the binding energy holding the form together begins to loosen, thereby causing the hydrogen and oxygen particles to disband and return to their original state, so is the inner being of man so constituted. The human spirit as a spiritual personality can develop to perfection and receive an eternal form only when its life becomes a loving service in obedience to the Divine Will. When the human spirit defies this Will by favoring its own then, in separating itself from Divine Love which is one with the Divine Laws, the highest binding power of love not holding its essence together will gradually lead to a loosening of its inner spiritual element, and thus a fermentation and spiritual decomposition that culminates in the loss of its spiritual personality known as “spiritual death”. Hence, the same laws physically observable in our material world also operates in the inner being of man. However, when the human spirit lives in serving love to the Divine Will, this highest attractive and binding power from the Almighty will fully germinate it and bring its abilities to the fullest blossom, thereby maturing it into the likeness of the Creator’s image.
The human spirit firmly anchored in pure love thus becomes subject to the higher process of attraction whereby the Power of God, Who Himself is Living Love, will then unite with and attract this human spirit upward in spiritual ascent into the Eternal Kingdom of God. Thus, in the final end, as Jesus is the Love of God, through this upward attraction process of the purified human spirit that lives this love, the Word will be fulfilled:
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me!”
Thus, the pronouncement “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor”, is not a religious thought, but a Holy Law of the Universe that regulates and governs every aspect of human existence for all eternity.
~Dr. Ikenna Q. Ezealah
For a comprehensive explanation of the true meaning of the teachings of Jesus, and the Divine Laws of God in Universe, I refer the reader to the classic work “In the Light of Truth” —The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin, the main work of the Alexander Bernhardt Publishing Company. Information about The Grail Message can be found on the following website: http://www.alexander-bernhardt.com/accueil.asp
Foundation for Ascent 