God is Not Mocked

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7 NKJV

This verse is in my top ten scariest scriptures, and at “The Triumph of the Lamb” conference, I had a whole new revelation of it. In touching on this passage, Martha said, “There’s a lot more justice in this world than you and I know.” Given the state of this world, that’s a truly terrifying truth to contemplate.

The Amplified Bible turns up the terror:

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.

I think that I’d mostly looked at this verse from the standpoint of how we get what we deserve because there are consequences for every action. That’s not quite right though. It misses the heart of this verse. I’m always distracted by what is done or what is said, but God is not. God is ever looking at the intention of the heart that fuels our thoughts, words and deeds. Galatians 6:7 is a verse about the consequences of intention. Eek!

God is Not Mocked by My Charade

God takes note of the intention of my heart. He alone knows what I mean when I speak, and the motive behind all I do. If I stretch a false smile across my face out of human goodness, I must be doing it for people because God isn’t fooled. God is not mocked “by mere pretensions or professions.”

This is incredibly sobering. I invest myself where my heart is, and that investment is my sowing. I sow out of the intention of my heart, and that is what I reap. God is not mocked “by His precepts being set aside.” I have struggled more than a few times with the ‘rough edge’ of God and called it my desire for Him to ‘smooth out’ just a little to become more palatable to someone else. He isn’t fooled by that. He knows that there are parts of Him and His ways that I don’t like, never mind someone else. There’s no deluding God, only myself.

God is Not Mocked by What I Choose

This is precisely why salvation is entirely God’s and not mine. He alone knows what lurks in the heart of man. I can pray the Sinner’s Prayer until I’m blue in the face, but if my heart isn’t right, there is nothing that I can do to move God’s hand.

My life pivots on my intention (see “The Big Why” for more on that) because that’s the ground on which God moves—or doesn’t. It is absolutely futile, a complete waste of time and energy, to pretend to love God more than you do, to pretend that you’re kinder than you are, to pretend that your life is more fulfilling than it is. God is not fooled! To sow in lies, deception and delusion is to guarantee a harvest of death. God is not mocked by what I SAY I choose. He moves on what I actually choose, out of the intention of my heart.

If we want to love God more than we do, be kinder than we are, and have a life that is truly fulfilling, we will sow in Spirit and in Truth. That’s a harvest worth reaping!

For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.