You will reap what you sow
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV)
You will reap what you sow. This is so common of a saying that it has almost become cliché. However, there is amazing and deep truth to this saying. First, what does it mean that God is not mocked? Have you ever done something thinking that no one is looking? Well, there is someone looking. God is not mocked. He sees all. We must not think that God will ignore what we do in private. This is what the first part of this passage states. We will reap what we sow because God will always see and know what we do. This can be very frightening if you think about it. Every thought, every action, every desire we have ever had, God knows it. This leads many people to have a feeling of fear and dread. If God sees everything that we have ever done, what does he think of us? What can we do to make it up? The bad news is we can’t do anything. Nothing we can do can make God forget what we have done.
The good news is that Christ has done something for us. That is what the second part of this passage tells us. If we sow to the flesh (act on our own “righteousness” or act on our sinful desires) we will reap what comes from the flesh. In Romans 3, Paul tells us the result is death. However, if we reap to the Spirit, we gain eternal life. What does it mean to reap to the Spirit? This means that when the Spirit convicts us and shows us our sinful ways, we submit to Him and repent of our sins. We become a child of God. The result of this is eternal life. As we have seen before, this salvation can only come through Christ and not from our own “righteousness.” In fact, our own righteousness results in death which is why we must reap to the Spirit. We rely on His righteousness and not our own.
This week, reap to the Holy Spirit. Listen to Him. Read your Bible and pray. Put yourself in situations where the Holy Spirit can speak to you. In all things, rely on the righteousness of God and you will reap eternal life.