Text: Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Theme: What you sow you will reap and that will never change.
God’s law of sowing and reaping can never be revoked. Sometimes we see the effects of our decisions immediately. Sometimes time is the essence. But The law of sowing and reaping is immutable, unchanging. What we sow, we will reap. There will be a harvest whether it be positive or negative.
The decisions we make and those that others make have an affect on us. Sometimes we see the effects immediately and sometimes it might take longer. Regardless, the laws of the harvest cannot be avoided. There may be positive results or there may be negative results, but the harvest is for sure.
The First Law of the Harvest.
We reap only what has been sown.
God has given many promises in His Word about planting seeds for a harvest. He has recorded different laws for different kinds of harvesting.
We will examine them in this lesson.
On the Positive Side
We reap blessings because of what God has sown.
Matt. 5:45, “That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Acts 17:24-25, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needeth any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”
The above Scriptures are God’s blessings on all. We reap these blessings just because of his love for humanity.
Again, on the positive side, we may reap blessings of what others have sown. Personally we benefit from contributions that others have made into our lives.
We owe a great deal to those who have given us a free and prosperous country in which to live. Sometimes it has cost lives and trauma for our freedom.
We enjoy blessings and privileges of our Christian faith because others before us have been faithful to sacrifice and preach the Good News.
The Negative Side
We reap the wrong that others have sown
We reap the sin of Adam. Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
We reap sorrow and suffering from the sins and failure of our family. We reap the wrong of foolish and corrupt leaders and the effects of living in a godless society.
Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
Much of our generation has abandoned faith in God and turned to humanistic philosophies and pagan religion. Because of this, our society suffers. The hearts of many have become cold hearted, angry and heartless. We are reaping irrational behavior in our children and young people. Our society is reaping what has been sown.
Law Two of the Harvest:
We Reap The Same in Kind as We Have Sown
This year, as in many other years, I planted a tiny seed in the soil of the garden box. It was so small that one would wonder if there would be a harvest from this swiss chard seed. However, as I watered it and kept the weeds from smothering it –Boom! There was a little sprig of greenery springing up. It did take some time and nurturing, but this seed had an abundance hid away inside of it. There was a harvest.
Genesis 1:11-12, “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
At creation, God ordered everything to reproduce “after his kind.” This principle has never been revoked – not in life and not in the laboratory. We see the same principle in spiritual reproduction. What is born of flesh is flesh and can never reproduce spiritual life anymore than that plant life can evolve into animal life.
John 3:3-6, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
As a sinner, Adam could only reproduce children who would likewise be sinners. Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Apart from divine intervention, Adam’s sin prevented man from reaping spiritual fruit. By receiving God’s gift of salvation man experiences a spiritual birth (born of the Spirit), with a new capacity to bear spiritual fruit.
Scriptures have many illustrations of this Law:
In Genesis chapters 27 through 29 we read the story of Jacob the deceiver.
While Esau has gone hunting, Jacob disguises himself to look, smell, and feel like Esau, and he went to Isaac and asked for his blessing. Isaac, who was nearly blind, being deceived, gives Jacob the blessing he had reserved for his oldest son, Esau. Esau is so angry that he threatens to kill Jacob, but Rebekah sends Jacob away to live with his uncle, Laban.
Laban makes Jacob an offer: if Jacob will work for Laban for seven years, Jacob can take Rachel to be his wife. Jacob loves Rachel, and agrees. After seven years of labor and service, it is time for the wedding. That night, Jacob is waiting for Rachel to come into his tent and become his wife. Here is the catch: Laban sends his oldest daughter, Leah, instead! By the time Jacob realizes this, it is too late, and he is married to Leah. The deceiver had been deceived! Jacob reaped the harvest of deception.
Law Three of the Harvest
Our Reaping May Come in Different Seasons.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: In verse 2 Solomon told us there is a time for sowing and a time for reaping.
So in Law Three we note that we are going to sometimes reap later what has been sown. This can be sometimes discouraging because if we do not realized results immediately for our good activities we could tend to think that perhaps we are to blame. Or – we may assume that we have escaped harvest for a bad choice. We must realize that if we have sown a seed whether good or bad in time we will reap the consequences.
Truth: Having sown, we will reap, but in a different season.
The time between sowing and reaping will vary. You can plant a kernel of corn and be eating the ears of corn in a matter of weeks. It takes years for an apple seed to sprout, grow and develop into a tree with fruit. So we must not be discouraged because the season of harvest is delayed. It is not instant gratification. Be patient and learn to wait for the harvest.
Law Four of the Harvest
Jesus relates a parable in Mark 4:1-8 that illustrates how we receive more than we have sown. In verse 8 He states that a single grain was planted, but that single grain produced thirty, sixty or a hundred fold more seeds. Reaping more than we sow is a fundamental truth to the laws of the harvest. Every gardener or farmer lives by this principle. His labor becomes abundantly productive to continue to supply his needs. The seed planter knows that the harvest is always greater than the seed planted.
In Luke 6:28 Jesus gives a promise that whatever we give, we shall receive back and more abundantly. This promise is recorded in Malachi 3:10 concerning the tithe. Our God promises that the blessings will be so great there will not be room enough to receive it.
The widow of Zarephath as recorded in 1 Kings 17:8-16 illustrates this important principle of receiving back more than what is given. Because she gave the last of her oil to Elijah the Lord God furnished her with oil continually until after the drought.
And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”
Law Five of the Harvest
Galatians 6:9 contains both a promise and a prerequisite. The promise says, “We shall reap..”
The prerequisite gives a qualification for the promise, “If we faint not.” That requires one to persevere in order to receive the promise. The Scriptures, life experiences and nature teach us that we reap a full harvest of the good only if we are persistent in the effort. This is a principle a farmer understands. A field must be maintained regularly to provide for conditions that promote healthy growth and fruitful plants. When I planted the Swiss chard seed it had to be watered, kept free from weeds and soil kept soft around it.
Truth: Paul commanded us to persevere in well doing until the harvest was reaped.
Our work for Christ will suffer and wither if we do not consistently persevere to the very end of the harvest.
Law Six of the Harvest
We reap in proportion to what we sow. 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously” The poor widow in`
Mar_12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
Mar_12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
Jesus was watching those that were giving that day in the temple. He was concerned that those that had more to give gave sparingly. This poor widow gave all she could, but in Jesus’ eyes she gave more than all. Jesus knew the law of the harvest – “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously”.
Law Seven of the Harvest
God has given us today to plant and plan ahead for an abundant harvest. Whatever we do today is important for the increase we will receive in future days. We have work to do, and loads to lift; Shun not the struggle…face it. It is God’s gift. If we want knowledge, we must toil for it, if good, we must toil for it and if pleasure, we must toil for it. Toil is a principle for harvest.