“GOD’S UNIVERSAL LAW”

By Rev. Dr. Brett Snowden

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7 NIV

The Law of Sowing and Reaping is universal. It works the same way regardless of what part of the world in which one lives. No one would ever plant a field of corn and expect to harvest peas. Nor would one plant tomatoes and expect to harvest potatoes. One always expects to harvest what has been planted. It is a universal law!

Not only is this law universal, but its principles also operate in every area of life. For purposes of this discourse we are concerned with how it affects our spiritual lives. After all, the Law of Sowing and Reaping is first and foremost, a spiritual law, given by God.
The Apostle Paul offers two opposite ways of life: the way of the Spirit and the way of the sinful nature. We must consider carefully the consequences of choosing one way or the other. We cannot straddle the fence; we cannot remain neutral; we must decide whether we are going to walk by the Spirit or gratify the desires of our sinful nature.

Paul’s call for decision is based on an agricultural principle: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. When people think and act as if they will not reap what they have sown, or as if they will reap something different than what they have sown, they are deceiving themselves and mocking God. The proverbial statement of warning: God cannot be mocked is true. No one can mock God and get away with it.

There is a human tendency to think that there is one exception to this universal principle. “Though this may prove to be true for everyone else, it is not true for me. I will not reap a harvest from what I have sown. I can sow whatever seed I want and still expect a good harvest.” Our capacity for self-deception is frightening. It is amazing how blind otherwise intelligent people can be to their own spiritual direction in life. The story of Adam and Eve’s hiding from God behind their skimpy clothes and even skimpier excuses is our common human experience.

Paul then applies the agricultural principle of reaping what is sown: 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 (v. 8). 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 decisions: 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." Often we find ourselves wishing things were different, wondering how events occurred, and the answer is that we made some choices, and the results were inevitable. Eventually when the crops begin to grow and you wish they wouldn't, it's too late to say, "This isn't what I meant to have happen." What you reap is what you sow, not what you wish for.

We have choices every day regarding what we are going to value, what our convictions are, how we will treat people, what we will decide is right and wrong, how we are going to enter into relationships, how we are going to deal with the things that make us afraid.

We can either choose to let the Spirit of God influence us and remind us of His Word, to take seriously all the great themes of the gospel, to be servant-hearted instead of selfish, to be courageous when we want to run away, to be gentle with people, to be honest with them--or we can decide to be self-serving, short-sighted, shallow and fearful. All such choices have consequences, and eventually the consequences add up.
Most people I know who have addictive behaviors have them because they made a lot of choices over a period of time. But you arrive there over time, not overnight. Greed, self-pity, arrogance, prejudice, cruelty, laziness all grow over time. You become those things by choices you make.
The converse is also true. When we choose to trust God, we become more like him. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When you listen to and are shaped by the mind of God, over time you become someone more and more like him, and the result is beauty of character, security of emotions, confidence in life. When you're honest over time, doors open because people learn to trust you. When you're courageous, you become confident in who you are. When you are gentle, eventually you are able to get near people who otherwise would flee from you and resist you.

You plant the seeds (sow), and then later you gather the resulting harvest (reap). The harvest that you reap depends on the kind of seeds you sow. Whatever you give out to others, God will eventually give back to you. This is the basic nature of God's Universal Law: "YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW."n