“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-9).
This fundamental law to human life should be self-evident. A man is a fool who thinks that he can break God’s law and escape the consequences. There are many who want to “sow their wild oats” and then pray for crop failure! Beloved, it just doesn’t work that way. We will reap what we have sown!
When a man plants wheat he expects to harvest a crop of wheat, simply because like begets like. Yet, how many people break God’s laws and then expect to escape the results? It can never be!
When Israel sowed the wind, she reaped the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). The Lord Jesus Christ said that no man can gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles (Matthew 7:16). In the same way, no man can turn his nose up at God and treat the Almighty with contempt without suffering the consequences. The man who sows to the flesh will reap corruption; the Bible says so!
There is also a positive dimension to this law for those who sow to the Spirit. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (II Corinthians 9:6). Let us then sow bountifully! What we pass on to others in the name of the Lord is never lost. We are God’s stewards, and as such we will reap a harvest in proportion to our sowing — not what we intended to sow, or thought we had sown, but that and only that which we actually did sow.
Let us not grow weary in well doing. Let us not retreat in the battle nor give way to the heat of the day, for in due season we shall reap if we do not quit or give up. Just as God gave Noah the promise that in the earth there would be that unending procession of seasons and times of harvest (Genesis 8:22), even so shall it be for the faithful believer who sows to the Spirit. Therefore, dear child of God, continue witnessing, working, praying, and giving. The harvest will come just as surely as the Lord Himself shall come!
Let me share two other thoughts quickly: we reap more than we sow, otherwise farmers would be out of business, AND we reap later than we sow. We don’t sow today and then reap tomorrow. So the questions remain, “What kind of life are you sowing? Are you sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit?” We cannot live one kind of life and expect to harvest another!
The Christian who ignores the teaching of the Word of God will have to answer for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The sinner who defies God must answer for his unbelief at the Great White Throne. That’s the law of the harvest; God’s law of sowing and reaping. May we not be deceived!