Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10

Reaping What You Sow (verses 7-8). The responsibilities listed so far present two opposite ways of life: the way of the Spirit and the way of the sinful nature or the flesh. The absolute contrast between these alternatives has been developed throughout Paul’s ethical appeal. Now it is the hour of decision. Now his readers must consider very carefully the consequences of choosing one way or the other. They cannot drift; they cannot remain neutral; they must decide whether they are going to walk by the Spirit or gratify the desires of their sinful nature. Since each individual must decide for themselves which way to live, Paul puts his challenge in a singular form.

Paul introduces his call for decision with a solemn warning based on an agricultural principle: Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. When people think and act as if they will not reap what they have sown, or as if they will reap something different from what they have sown, they are deceiving themselves and mocking God. But since the inevitable law of reaping what is sown has always been proved true, the proverbial statement of warning God is not mocked is also true: no one can mock God and get away with it.

Yet there is a common tendency to think that there is one exception to this universal principle: “Though it proves true for everyone else, it is not true for me. I will not have to reap a harvest from the seeds I sow. I can sow whatever seed I want and still expect a good harvest.” This common line of thought only proves the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Our capacity for self-deception is frightening. It is amazing how blind otherwise brilliant people can be to their own spiritual direction in life. In fact, the more brilliant people are, the more skilled they are at developing rationalizations to deceive themselves and to hide from God. The story of Adam and Eve’s hiding from God behind their skimpy clothes and even skimpier excuses is our common human experience. Paul’s warning needs to be heard, and to be heard often, to warn us against our most brilliant self-delusions.

Paul then applies the agricultural principle of reaping what is sown: 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. Here we are faced with a decision, a decision that determines our destiny. We are not victims of fate, bad luck or even predestination. Our destiny is determined by our decision: shall we sow to the sinful nature or to the Spirit? The old proverb is true: “Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

To Be Continued

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