SOWING AND REAPING

Gal
6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.

Nature
teaches us that harvest always follows seed time. This rule is as
true in the spiritual and intellectual realms as well as the natural.

It
is no wonder that there are so many frustrated people in our society
who are so despaired when faced with life's small problems. After
all, they have sown the seed of trashy literature and immoral
entertainment. Nearly everyone enjoys a good ball game but if the
reading of the sports page is the highest of our literary attainments
then where are we to get the strength we need when faced with a real
personal crises?

In
amoral sins also, one reaps what he sows. We remember the story from
our childhood of the boy who cried 'wolf' so many times that when the
wolf really did come, no one believed him. It still holds true; One
who sows deceit will reap suspicion. One who sows anger toward others
will reap malice toward himself. One who sows violence will reap fury
Hosea 8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind:

The
examples of the truth of this are many. There are the broken bodies
and lives on the skid rows. The despair and dashed hopes in the
prisons and in homes as mothers and wives weep over those who have
wasted their lives. Unwed mothers and broken homes are multiplied.
Society is reaping what it has sown in the schools by disavowing God
and in the population as a whole by putting the seal of approval on
illicit sex and loose morals.

While
all these are tragic, by far the greater catastrophe is in the realm
of the spirit. Here we aren't dealing with wasted years but with
eternity. We are not concerned with man's relationship with man but
with his outlook for eternity and his relationship with his creator.
We are not worried about cirrhosis of the liver, altered genes or a
prison record but the eternal banishment of his soul from the
presence of God and an eternity in a burning hell.

Let's
take another look at the text with which we began. The first part of
the verse reads, "be not deceived". The word, as used here
means to be led astray by false teachers. Eve was led astray in the
Garden of Eden as she was deceived by Satan. He lied to her about the
penalty of disobeying God. The statement of God was the first
posting of the edict of the Law of Sin and Death. "In the day
thou eateth thou shalt die." As proclaimed by the prophet
Ezekiel it is, Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul
of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. Satan's deception was,"Thou shalt NOT
surely die." and he is still spouting the same lie to mankind
today. To some he says,"Sin is only relative. As long as you are
only average or better you are okay. To others he says that sin is
only in the mind and can be erased by denial. To others he assures
them that it can't really be evil if it makes you feel good! To still
others he is busy trying to convince them that god has more important
things to think about to worry about them and their little lives.

In
spite of what the devil and his minions say, the Word of God still
declares, Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;
Don't be deceived by false teaching, God is not mocked! This
phrase means to turn up the nose in derision. The Bible is
filled with the accounts of those who have thought to treat God with
contempt. There were kings who scoffed at the God of Israel but
learned to their great sorrow that God is not mocked.

II
Chronicles chapter thirty two records how the armies of Sennacharib,
king of Syria, went home in shame after making fun of God. The Book
of Daniel records the account of king Nebuchudnezzar and how he was
made to live like a wild beast until he learned that the most high
God ruled in the kingdom of men.

All
this is exactly what God has pronounced upon those who scorn Him.
Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
thing?

Psa
2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

Psa
2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from
us.

Psa
2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have
them in derision.

Psa
2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his
sore

Things
have not changed. God is still not mocked. One who lives without
faith must face death with uncertainty. One who lives without hope
goes into the next world with haplessness. Those who reject the love
of God must face judgment without Christ who is the gift of God's
love..

While
of our remarks thus far have been directed toward those who are lost,
the words were actually written to those who were saved and were
members of the churches of Galatia. We who are saved NEED this
admonition. Jesus said that he who saves his life shall lose it but
he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Paul
informs us; Gal 6:8 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.

Jesus
was teaching the same lesson in Mat 6:19 Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat
6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal:

Picture
the man who claims to have been saved but has never committed his
life to Christ. Sunday after Sunday he spends the day fishing,
working in his yard or polishing his car instead of obeying the
command of Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching. The years pass and
the house is condemned as unsafe, the fishing place is polluted, the
car is rusting in a wrecking yard, the well tended yard is overgrown
with weeds and his body is moldering in a grave while he waits for a
judgment he had hoped would never come.

Another
spends so much time 'improving his mind' that he never has time to
meditate upon God or to serve Him. He finds himself standing before
his maker and discovers that the wisdom of the world is but
foolishness with God.

There
are many ways in which man can sow to the flesh Whether it be seeking
pleasure, wealth, fame, status, or power the reaping is all the same.
When the flesh decays all efforts put forth for its enhancement fades
away. Those who sow to the spirit shall reap life everlasting! No,
this isn't speaking of how to be saved but rather about how to make
this present life have eternal significance. There is no need for all
the accomplishments of our earthly existence to be left behind to
decay and be lost. The answer is simply, SOW THE RIGHT SEED! Sow to
the Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus said, John 16:13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.

Then,
he identified the Truth. John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth.

Paul
Instructed Timothy, 2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2
Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works. It is clear that if one is to sow to the
Spirit he MUST act in obedience to the Word of God for the Holy
Spirit will never act or lead contrary to the revealed of God.

As
the children of God stand at the judgment bar, the criteria for
hearing the words, "Well done--" is not simply to have
been saved but to have been faithful to the savior by finding,
uniting with and serving in a New Testament Church!. They will have
served him faithfully all the days of their lives. They will have
been constant in their stewardship, prayers, Bible Study, witnessing
to the lost and allowing the love of God to be shown through them.
According to the third chapter of I Corinthians they will find their
life's work purified by the fires of judgment while those who have
sown to the flesh will see theirs consumed.

The
first step toward laying up treasures in heaven is to lay the proper
foundation. 1 Cor 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If
you can't say with full assurance, "for I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day." then this is the time
to come, repenting of your sins, to Christ and let Him save your
soul. Then and only then can you begin to sow the right seed in
preparation for the harvest to come.