Sowing and Reaping, Part II

[continued from yesterday's blog...]

In a large, macro sense, we see this happening all the time…news broadcasts are filled with stories of politicians, Hollywood stars, musicians, and athletes sowing in lust, covetousness, greed, anger, hatred, envy, jealousy, strife, pride…reaping with adultery, divorce, family breakups, aids, murder, prison terms,poverty, etc.

Sowing and reaping. Deed and consequence. Let me pause here and ask you a question. What are you sowing in your life right now? Today, Sunday, Sept 27th? How did you spend your day yesterday? Are you giving any thought to what you’re going to harvest from the seeds you’re planting right now? Are you seeking to please God, sowing seeds of obedience and service? Or are you sowing seeds of sin that will produce shame when Christ returns? Our words, and actions and decisions are more significant than we can possibly know. They echo through our lives and the lives of everyone we meet; they reverberate into eternity.

* What are you sowing in your children’s lives? What are you teaching them? Are you teaching them? What kind of example are you setting? How are you preparing them to walk with Christ?

* What are you sowing in your own spiritual life? Are you reading the Bible? Are you praying? Are you cultivating a relationship with God? Or are you neglecting your spiritual life? What kind of harvest are you expecting? Are you sowing seeds to produce a a strong faith, and joy, and peace? Are you expecting a harvest of Flowers, and fruits and vegetables? Or weeds?

* What are you sowing in your relationship with your spouse? Criticism? Neglect? Disapproval? You shouldn’t be surprised if those seeds produce a harvest of thorns and thistles. Or are you sowing encouragement, and praise, and attention? The harvest of those seeds is love.

* What about your relationships with others? Are you sowing peace, or discord?

* What are you filling your mind with? How are you spending your time and money? What kind of seeds are you planting in these areas? What kind of fruit are you expecting?

Here’s they key. We don’t have a choice as to whether the law of sowing and reaping is going to apply in our lives. “A man reaps what he sows.” We don’t have a choice whether the seeds we plant are going to bear fruit. And we don’t have the option of harvesting good fruit without first planting the seeds. The only choice we have is what kinds of seeds we’re going to plant. The choices you are making today, the actions you are taking today, with respect to your family, your marriage, your children, your relationship with God, your time and money – these will bear fruit; either good fruit that will bring you joy, or bad fruit that will bring you heartache and sorrow. You have to decide: Which will it be?

Now at about this time, I expect that some of you are starting to form some objections, some questions. Because this law of sowing and reaping, although absolutely true, is not necessarily simple in its application. For example, sometimes the “good fruit” doesn’t look all that good to us. We do our best to obey God, we pray, we read the Bible, we speak the truth, we seek peace with others, we stay faithful to our spouses and we love our kids. And yet, things still go wrong. Conflict, bitterness, angry words, betrayal, tears, sorrow. What gives? I thought that if I sowed good things, I would receive a good harvest. Let’s look again at Paul’s words:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps 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 the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:7-9 (NIV)

What do we see? Paul thought it necessary to caution us against becoming weary. He spoke about reaping a harvest “at the proper time.” Why? Because sometimes the harvest doesn’t come when we expect, or when we desire.

* Sometimes the "harvest" takes months, years, decades.
* Your children -- You may say something that you forget, but which sticks with them for years afterward.
* Sometimes the harvest comes too late for us to see it. [Moses died before entering the promised land.]
* Sometimes we’re unaware of who we’ve influenced; the fruit appears when we’re not around to see it.
* And, in some cases, the harvest just doesn’t come in this life at all. Our reward is “Well done, Thou good and faithful servant.”

Here’s another thing: not only does the fruit sometimes appear at a time we don’t expect; sometimes it appears in a form we don’t recognize as good fruit. We were expecting strawberries and we got potatoes. Sometimes the result of obedience is not an improvement in our circumstances, but a strengthening of our faith and a refining of our character. God, in His wisdom, defines that as good fruit, even though we may be looking for something else.

So, what should we be doing? Just doing whatever we feel like, and hoping for the best? A garden treated that way would produce nothing but weeds. We need to reflect on how we’re living, we need to consider what kind of seeds we’re planting with our life. We need to work diligently to plant the right kind of seeds, so we won’t be disappointed at harvest time:

“A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” – Proverbs 20:4 (NIV)

We need to place our trust and confidence in God. Only he can produce a good harvest. It’s by His power and grace, and not because of our effort, that good fruit comes.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. – 1 Cor. 3:6-7 (NIV)

Finally, what about the bad seed we’ve already sown, the sins we’ve already committed, the months or years that have been wasted? Well, you may have to endure the consequences of your sin. You may need to accept that you’re going to be reaping some bad fruit. Maybe you’re experiencing that right now – maybe you’re suffering the consequences of your past actions. Maybe you’re even reaping the fruit of someone else’s wrong choices. The important thing to realize is that there is a higher law that supersedes the law of sowing and reaping. And that’s the law of love, the law of grace. That’s the promise of forgiveness and eternal life to all who will place their faith in Jesus Christ. In Christ, the punishment for our sins is removed and our guilt is completely erased. We are no longer under God’s condemnation; our sins will not bear the fruit of God’s wrath and anger and judgment. Although we may still experience the consequences of our actions in this world, Christ will make sure there is no harvest of judgement in the next.