Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
What Will You Reap?
I think most people understand the law of what you sow, you reap. If you sow bad things, you will reap in kind. If you sow good things, good may be returned to you. I generally think about consequences when I think of “what you sow, you reap.” There are natural consequences to just about everything. For most of us, if we eat unhealthy foods and do not exercise, we can expect it to catch up with us one day. (Except for all of you blessed people with those magic genes.) If you speed, you should not be surprised or feel you have been treated unfairly if you get a speeding ticket. If you save your money and do not spend carelessly, you probably won’t find yourself in a financial situation that drowns you. Of course, there are no guarantees of anything because you can plan, and work hard, and do all the right things, and every once in a while life throws a curve ball. But you might find yourself on the right side of the curve at least!
All those tangible circumstances and consequences can cause a lot of pain if we choose to sow the wrong things. Some more intangible examples are sowing seeds of anger and reaping broken relationships, sowing seeds of unforgiveness reap bitterness.
When we choose sin over God, we are sowing to our flesh instead of the Spirit. When we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption. When we sow to the Spirit, we reap eternal life. When we sow seeds of kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and love are examples of reaping to the Spirit.
But even in sowing the right things, our heart can be in the wrong place. When we willfully choose to ignore God, His commands, and what we know to be right in God’s eyes and choose instead to sin, we are inviting sorrow into our life. Also, when we deceive ourselves and think our attitudes and actions are not seen by an all-powerful and all-knowing God, or that they really don’t matter because we appear to be doing all the good, Christian things, we are terribly mistaken. God sees our hearts, no matter what our mouths are saying, or our hands are doing – therefore, God is not mocked. Doing the right thing on the outside with the wrong attitude on the inside doesn’t fool God. We must keep a check on our hearts – He does.
The heart and the mind are where sin begins, and if left alone, it takes root. Even having the wrong attitude towards someone who hurt us seems justifiable, but God does not see it that way. We are called to turn our eyes to Him – for His glory – in everything. We do not have the capacity to do that as humans, but in Him we can. When you are struggling with the wrong attitude about someone or something, He understands that. You can go to Him and be honest and tell Him, and then lay it at His feet.
This verse begins with Do not be deceived… - We are born with sin, but as we become His children and are forgiven, we are still vulnerable. This deception is the beginning of God being mocked in our hearts. When we keep our eyes on Him, study His word, and stay in prayer, we can bolster our hearts against this kind of deception.
Abide in Him, sow good things, and guard your hearts. Stop wrong thoughts and attitudes by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Him so that you are not deceived.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:5
