“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 corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7–8, ESV)
Every farmer knows this universal principle. One reaps that which he sows. When I was young, my grandmother purchased a property in the country. It was her dream to get out of the city and back to the area in which she grew up.
Shortly after her house was built, she decided to clear a section of the land and start a garden. I was about 10 years old at that time, and helped her remove stumps and cultivate the soil. She purchased some corn seed from the local farmer’s co-op and we planted the seed in rows.
I was an impatient kid at the age of 10 and went out every morning after we planted the seed to see if the corn was growing. However, it seemed as if nothing was happening. Yet one day I saw something coming up from the soil. The seed had germinated. I proceeded to watch the shoots turn into stalks, and then the ears of corn began to form. Yet it was not time for the harvest. The waiting seemed like an eternity to me. However, one day my grandmother said it was time to reap the harvest.
We pulled some of the mature ears of corn from the stalks. It was no surprise, the corn seed that we sowed produced a huge harvest. On the average, each stalk produced a couple cobs each loaded with about 800 kernels.
This is exactly the picture that Paul drew here when he wrote, “whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” This principle of sowing and reaping is universal and will apply to every area of life. It is vital to understand this as we consider our spiritual life, that is our Christian walk. So, let us look at the application of this principle to us as believers in Jesus.
First, to reap a harvest, you must sow something. Every farmer knows this. If you do not sow seed, there will be no harvest. He who sows much will reap much and he who sows little will reap little. If we want our spiritual life to count for something, we must do some sowing.
Second, what we sow will make all the difference. The simple fact is this. Every living being is sowing something. The question is not whether a person is sowing seed, it is what type of seed that is being sowed. Paul wrote that from a spiritual standpoint there were two types of seed that could be 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”
There is seed sown to the flesh and seed sown to the Spirit. The spiritual person, the one led by the Spirit, will be characteristically sowing seed to the Spirit. The person driven by the flesh, that is the sinful nature, characteristically sows to the flesh.
Third, a person reaps of the same kind as he or she sows. It was no surprise that when we sowed corn in the field that we reaped a harvest of corn. It should be no surprise to us that the spiritual person who sows to the Spirit will reap spiritual blessings for all eternity, and the one who sows to the flesh will reap things of no eternal value. Paul stayed it,
“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”
The Galatians who were following the doctrine of the false teachers were following a doctrine contrived by the inclinations of man’s sinful nature. It denied the majesty of God demonstrated by His infinite grace. Paul previously gave several examples of the things the sinful nature would manifest (Gal 5:19-21). Those led by the flesh manifest that which will amount to nothing profitable for eternity. Their efforts will perish with them. Yet those who sow to the Spirit will produce fruit that will remain.
There are two more principles of sowing and reaping that I will cover in the next devotion. For now, let us consider how we might sow to the Spirit rather than the flesh. For it is in this way that we will experience true spiritual riches.
Renewing the Heart 