A Powerful Law in the Earth
Galatians 6:7-10 NKJV
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
This is a law that my mother used to quote to me. She shortened it to you will reap what you sow. My mother was warning me about the error of my ways coming back to bite me. But this passage doesn’t limit sowing and reaping to the negatives of life. Paul said God was not mocked, whatever a man sows that he will also reap. Whatever can be good as well as bad. And the passage clarifies that truth.
Sowing to your flesh reaps corruption. Corruption, in this case, being defined as destruction, ruin, decay. What would define sowing to the flesh, because I sure don’t want to reap ruin, decay, and corruption. Remember that Paul had just given the Galatian churches a list of what constituted the works of the flesh—starting with adultery, fornication, and uncleanness. Also including things such as hatred, jealousy, and outbursts of wrath. So we can come away with a clear idea of what not to sow into. That list, that Paul gave, comes with the warning that if you sow into or do these things, the harvest you reap will include ruin, corruption, decay, nothing good.
The good news is that we can pick the seeds we sow. We can sow to the flesh, or we can sow to the spirit. Once again, we go back a few verses to the spirit list. This is the list that includes love, joy, peace, and long-suffering. If we sow those seeds, we reap life, the God kind of life. We can infer that when Paul spoke of sowing to the spirit, he was referring to the nine fruits of the spirit, because he encourages us to not grow weary in doing good. We can easily see where walking in love, long-suffering, gentleness, and self-control can become wearisome. It’s easy to get tired of walking in love with some people. And long-suffering is an accurate name. Sowing seeds of long-suffering means you suffer, for a long time. But we reap a harvest of life, not death, good, not evil, and flourishing, not decay.
I have often heard this passage used in the offering. And it’s entirely appropriate. The law of sowing and reaping was established by God way back in the book of Genesis. God told Noah that while the earth remained, seedtime and harvest would not cease. Paul was reminding the believers in Galatia that the law of sowing and reaping pertained to more than agriculture. But we can also see that this passage pertains to more than simply sowing financial seeds. We can sow seeds with our money but just don’t stop there. Our harvest in life will depend on the seeds we sow. Let’s plant good seeds that produce good fruit. We can’t ignore God’s laws; sowing and reaping is His way.
Prayer
Lord, I purpose in my heart to plant seeds that are life-giving. Sowing and reaping is a law You have established in the earth, and I believe it.