Sowing and Reaping

I was born and raised on a diary farm in Wisconsin.  Though my dad did not say the principle of sowing and reaping a lot he clearly lived it year after year.  Years ago our society revolved around the agricultural industry much more then it does today.  I wonder if that is one of the reasons our society does not seem to understand one of the basic principles of life in general and of our spiritual life in particular.  So many people live their lives as if there ought to be no negative consequences to their choices in life.  This principle of God was present in the garden of Eden before the Fall of man and is still present today.  God told Adam and Eve if you eat of this certain tree you will die.  They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree and they died, not immediately but they died.  Just because the consequence is delayed does not mean it will not come.  By the way for Adam and Eve they did die immediately spiritually speaking but their physical death was delayed.  This principle was taught well by the apostle Paul "Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked.  A man will reap 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 that Spirit will reap eternal life."  Galatians 6:7-8.  The principle of sowing and reaping has both positive and negative consequences.  There is also the aspect that the sowing comes before the reaping and the fact that your reaping is always associated with the type of sowing that you were doing.  One of the biggest aspects of this spiritual principle is that fact that there are zero, no, exceptions to this principle.  Someone might actually think they are getting away with something or they are the exception to this principle because they do not see an immediate consequence but in the end God's principle will remain in force and will be applied fairly and justly by God.  Let's focus just briefly on the negative aspect of this principle.  Sowing sin will always bring about negative consequences.  Satan has deceived many in thinking that sin brings pleasure but Moses learned that the pleasures of sin last only for a moment, Hebrews 11:25.  Paul stated that God cannot be mocked.  This means God wins and His principles work all the time.  If you are caught in a destructive pattern of sowing the wrong things then thanks be to God through Jesus Christ that there is forgiveness and the power of the Spirit that is available to change all that.  Repent and transform the pattern of your sowing through the power of Christ and His Word.  Let's finish this blog by stating that our God who loves to bless is ready and faithful to bring about positive consequences in our lives when we are sowing to the Spirit, sowing the right things in life to please God.  God is a giver within His character and He loves it when we reap from the Spirit.  Our God is faithful.
May we be the sowers that please the heart of God.

Pastor John