The Law of Sowing and Reaping, you ask? What is this? Well sit back get comfortable and read on and I’ll see if I can shed some light on this subject for you. Pay close attention, this is important stuff if you want to live a Christlike life.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping: (Galatians 6:7Galatians 6:7
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  

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(NASB)  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

(AMP)  Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.

Note the last part of the Amplified; it says, “For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.”

The Law of Sowing and Reaping is a spiritual law that too many Christians do not understand. Money is what most Christians think of when we begin to talk about sowing and reaping. Sowing and reaping covers most everything in life. We unfortunately don’t equate what we have and what we receive with this spiritual precept.

Any farmer will tell you that in order to harvest you must first plant. He will, also, tell you to plant what you want to grow. Don’t plant onions and hope for corn, it won’t happen. Duh! right? Simple enough wouldn’t you say? If this is such a simple precept; Why do we constantly plant things in our lives we don’t want? What did Galatians 6:7Galatians 6:7
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  

say? Was it, what you sow you will reap? When we are sowing and reaping on the farm; we understand that we must plant what we want to grow. The same common sense statement applies to your life as well.

The obvious question here is, “Okay, so what are we planting in our lives?” The answer; seed. To simple an answer? Fine, lets define seed. Seed in any one’s life is the things that affect others around you, for a start. Like what, you ask? How about attitudes, words, actions, the things you surround yourself with, the things that are your priorities; all of these things are seed.

You want an example. Okay. The attitude you display to others is usually the attitude you get back. You talk kindly to someone usually kindness will be returned. Talk smack to someone, and ……. You get the picture? This is an example of seed that germinates and is harvested quickly. However, this kind of seed can be a long term harvest as well. Be ugly to people long enough and eventually even those who tolerated you will stop tolerating you.

The seed we sow covers every part of our lives. Most people aren’t even aware that they are sowing seed at all and all day long as well. If they knew what was sown a prayer for crop failure would be in order.

Galatians 6:8Galatians 6:8
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
8 For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.  

tells us:

NASB)  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.

If every seed you sow is selfish and self centered, is all about you what you want, to feel and do; this is a good example of sowing to the flesh. To sow to the Spirit is the opposite of the flesh. If the flesh is all about self; the Spirit is all about selflessness. Part of our calling as a Christian is to be Christlike. He was never selfish. If He had been selfish we would all be in trouble. He didn’t have to be scourged, beaten, mocked, spit on, take the sins of the whole world on Himself, carry all our infirmities in His body, be made poor so we could be rich, have God the Father turn His back to Him, die a physical as well as spiritual death separated from God, allow Satan to prevail for a moment, be put in bondage so we could be free, He didn’t have to do any of that. He could have said, “Nope, not me. I’m the Son of God I shouldn’t have to do all that junk.” Praise Jesus, He was obedient unto death on a cross, for you, took all your sins and sicknesses, for you, died physically and spiritually separated from the Father, for you. It wasn’t a big deal for Him, was it? I mean, that is what He came here for, right? It was no big deal since He was God in human form, right?

Let me sow some good seed here. It was a huge deal for Him to do all of it. He left heaven, if that wasn’t bad enough, and came to earth as a man. He had no advantage over you or I. He had all our limitations. He laid aside His power or ability to use His power and operated on this earth as a mere man. He endured all of it as a man. It was a big deal!

So, what does this have to do with the law of sowing and reaping? Christ is the perfect example of how and what to sow. Total and complete selflessness. He thought only of you, not Himself. The harvest? Its coming and what a harvest it will be. Seed can’t grow until it is put in the ground and it dies. Christ was the ultimate seed ever planted.

Joh 12:24Joh 12:24
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.  

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  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

You see, God sowed His Son that we might have eternal life. If Christ had not died I wouldn’t be typing this post entry and you wouldn’t be reading it. The law of sowing and reaping would continue on, though, even if Christ had not died. The law of sowing and reaping has been since the beginning of time. God set it up. He wants to bless what we sow and multiply our harvest. It helps if we plant something worth while.

What we plant in our lives is what we will harvest in our lives. If we plant faith we will harvest faith. If we plant fear we will harvest fear. If we plant righteousness we will harvest righteousness. If we plant hate and discontent we get hate and discontent. Have you ever heard:

Mat 26:52Mat 26:52
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
52 Then saith Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.  

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  Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.

Luk 6:31Luk 6:31
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.  

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  “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

Gal 6:9Gal 6:9
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
9 And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  

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  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

Joh 3:16Joh 3:16
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.  

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  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Joh 16:7,13Joh 16:7,13
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. ¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, [these] shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.  

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  But I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.

Luk 6:38Luk 6:38
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
38 give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.  

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  Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

These are a few of the many examples of sowing and reaping in the Bible. When God sows the harvest is great. When we sow into God our harvest will be great. The things we sow in our lives should be sown in faith and sown to the Spirit. We need to put aside all selfish nonsense and begin to think first of others. How will what we are doing, saying, acting like, etc., affect others? Will they be affected in a positive way or a negative way? Who is being glorified? Who are you serving by the seed you are sowing?

We the Church, Christians, ought to be praying for fruitful harvests instead of crop failure. Sow good faith wrapped seed and expect a bountiful harvest. God will bless the fruit of your vine. Satan will be more than happy to cause your weeds to run amok.

While sowing and reaping can have great financial impact in our lives; the greatest impact of all is how we live our lives and how we present our Lord and Savior to those around us. These are the greatest seeds sown. These are the seeds that will grow into the greatest of harvests. The big question is what will be harvested?

Plant well. Plant bountifully. Plant Christ.

Plow under the junk

Filed under: Farming 101