Proverbs 11:18

I should probably know more than I do, especially when it comes to farming. I’ve grown up with it all around me. I suppose I just never really took an interest in it. I did, and still do, however, take an interest in those delicious apples at Hoople’s Apple Orchard. To me, there’s something about those apples that make them taste better than the rest—maybe it’s because the orchard is local or because there’s history that connects it with Mt. Hope, maybe it’s because of the Hoople brothers, or maybe, just maybe it’s because they are really just that good. By far though, my favorite is their apple cider. Nothing beats it.

But you know, Souter and Harry were quite the apple farmers. I remember visiting the orchard when I was younger and Souter taking us on a tour of the back field. And on a number of occasions, our church volunteered helping to pick apples to help them during harvest.

All in all, the Hooples knew how to farm. Their harvest was proof and oh my, their apple cider is good. Sorry, it just is. But what I’ve learned is the Hoople brothers understood well the principle of sowing and reaping and not only with apples, but also with the spiritual.

All throughout Scripture this principle appears. For starters, sowing and reaping is part of God’s natural design beginning on the third day of creation with plants bringing forth seeds. But it’s more than an agricultural principle—it’s a spiritual one. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

All of this sets the stage for today’s verse found circled in the eleventh chapter of Proverbs in Souter’s Bible.

'The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. ' - Proverbs 11:18

Just like a proverb, it tells us the fate of both sides. The wicked, those who choose evil and keep their distance from God, well, their pay is nothing but a bad check. They are deceived. Perhaps they are blinded by the enemy. Perhaps because of their selfish ambitions and desires. Perhaps because they haven’t been caught. Regardless of why, the Scripture makes it clear, while they may have been expecting life, the wages of sin is death.

The good news, though, is there is “a sure reward” for the righteous. A true reward that belongs to the person that sows righteousness. Now, just like in farming, the reward, the harvest may come in time. Perhaps weeks or even months, but to him that follows God and does good it’s a solid pay.

When I first read this verse, my mind immediately raced through the stories of Souter’s life I’ve heard over the years. He was a man, not working for his salvation, but living in response to it. He loved God and loved people, especially the ones that were still learning to write their names, but he did so because he first experienced the love of God in his own life.

I’ve heard stories where he would sit by young kids in church, find Scriptures in the Bible and encourage them to stand and read them during service. I already shared the story with you about him being my prayer partner in an earlier episode, but you may not know the part he played in me being a missionary. When I was ten years old, I had a soft spot for missions, mostly because of mission’s hour at camp and hearing the different stories from ministry fields all over the world. Well, somehow Souter heard about my interest in missions and during one of our conversations told me about one of his friends, Lee Fields, who was, then, serving in Zaire, Africa. Souter and his niece, Mary Margaret Freeman found his address and I began writing letters and sending him my allowance as support. I can remember sitting at my grandmother's house, one day, writing one of those letters when my grandmother asked me what I planned to be when I grew up. My response was, “I want to be a missionary.”

Even as a young boy, I took note of Souter’s actions, but now, looking back, I can see with greater clarity. Souter was sowing seeds of righteousness. And you know, I’m not sure words were even necessary. His life was a beautiful testimony in itself. And now, he is experiencing his greatest reward—a life with Jesus. And well, I don’t know for sure, but I just imagine God may have Souter in charge of the apple orchard in heaven. I kind of hope so.