Galatians 6:7  “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow.”

     This spiritual law works in the background of our lives.  It works over time with a gradual inevitability that renders it all but invisible to the ‘point and click’ mentality of our day.  Only by reflection and honest assessment can we see how it has worked in our lives.   Although I have often (mis)used it to explain why sudden disaster has befallen other people.  Sadly, it is all to easy to condemn people with this law rather than use it as a guide in our own lives.

      The law of sowing and reaping doesn’t work like some cosmic ‘tit for tat’ principle whereby all the bad things somebody does will come back at them and they finally ‘get what they deserve’.  John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 are just two scriptures that show that God isn’t interested in punishing.  He is interested in redemption!  “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:9)

     How then do we appropriately apply the law of sowing and reaping?  First – apply it  to your own life, not others.  We can look back – sort of like doing a step 4 in AA – and take inventory of our actions and resentments.  The law of sowing and reaping allows us to see our part in the past – what actions or attitudes did we have that fed into our resentments and hurts?  When we see that much of our past was authored by our own selfish will and not God’s we begin to understand how we drag the sum  of our past around with us today.  It was, after all is said and done – our choices and our actions – that make up our past.  You cannot be a victim when you take responsibility for who you are NOW!  This is the path to healing.

     Second, apply the law of sowing and reaping on a daily basis.  Before you act – ask yourself, what crop will I reap from this action?  Our lives are blessed by the fruit of the Spirit; ” . . . love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  meekness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22,23).  If you plant according to the Spirit’s seed you will enjoy the Spirit’s fruit.  Any gardener will tell you that fruit comes from its own seed.  Our lives can be cursed by the fruit of selfishness;  “. . ., sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, . . .” (Galatians 5: 19,20)  The bottom line is if you plant it, you will have to eat of it. 

     Any gardener will also tell you that a garden can change.  Do your weeding, work the soil and choose your seeds carefully and fruitful blessings will follow.  Life, like gardening, depends on the choices you make.  Also, tend to your own garden not your neighbours.  If you do that you will find that you will have lots of good fruit to share with your neighbour.  Remember, advice can go stale but good fruit shared between friends becomes a wonderful bond and memory.

    If you have a lot of weeds in your life and the bitter taste of their roots are in your mouth remember;  Jesus won’t let you down.  The Bible assures us; “. . . that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6)  You can’t go wrong by letting the Master Gardener work in your life.