AN UNALTERABLE LAW
Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? (Proverbs 6: 27-28)
Can a man sow one thing and reap another? Paul put the answer to that question in language that cannot be misunderstood. He wrote, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6: 7-8)
There is the universal natural law operative from the beginning of time: “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” (Genesis 1:11) Plant a field with wheat seed and then you know there will be a harvest of wheat. The farmer doesn’t have to wonder whether it will be ragweed, watermelons, or corn.
This same law of “sowing and reaping” has been operative in the spiritual world since the beginning of time. Yet some have the fallacious idea that you can sow one thing and reap another. It can’t be done. You cannot sow wild oats and then pray for a crop failure. In the words of Longfellow:
“Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting;
With exactness grinds He all.”
Here are some thought-provoking facts about reaping what we sow: There is one sowing time-this life; there are two reaping times-this life and the life hereafter. Ordinarily, we reap far more than we sow.
Sin always has consequences, even after we have been forgiven. Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences. The man who sows primarily for pleasure is not looking to the harvest.
G. D. Boardman wrote these appropriate words: “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
Chickens come home to roost. You reap what you sow. There is never a crop failure!
Charles Cash
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Charles Cash, Devotional
on July 22nd, 2009
