Sowing the Seeds that BELIEVE

Don’t be under any illusion: you cannot make a fool of God! A man’s harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.
Galatians 6:7 PHILLIPS

The warning in this verse is so strong that that’s what I tend to hear, almost exclusively. And that’s hardly a problem, because God never speaks a warning that I don’t desperately need. But in light of what I’m seeing lately about our work to believe, I’m more focused on the flip-side of this warning. “Those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (vs. 8, NLT). Am I sowing into my life in ways that please the Holy Spirit? Have I nurtured the seeds that believe, or those that doubt?

Sowing the Seeds of LIFE

During The Triumph of the Lamb conference, Martha said something that absolutely smote my heart. Here’s the full quote, with the smiting words in bold:

“The consequences of our actions have been removed by Satan from our sin nature. We are not aware of cause and effect. We are not aware that down the road there is a reaction to my action. God ordained justice. There is a lot more justice in the world than we know – and a lot less injustice. You reap what you sow. Sow to the flesh, you reap to the flesh. Sow to the Spirit, you reap to the Spirit. And that is as certain as the sun rising.”

Do I know that? Do I BELIEVE that? Justice is a word used prominently today, almost always in the context of its lack. So when Martha declared that there is more justice than we know, it was like the Spirit cracking a whip across my heart. This broken world is still subject to God’s precepts. If I believe otherwise, then I’ve imbibed a lie.

There are people in this world that others describe as lucky or blessed. And certainly God blesses those whom He wants to bless, period. But perhaps these golden few have been sowing the seeds of LIFE and are merely harvesting the reward. Galatians 6:7 isn’t just a warning; it’s also a call of hope! The hard work to believe in Jesus Christ is never done in vain.

Sowing the Seeds of LOVE

The work to believe is sowing the seeds of the Spirit in my life. It’s sowing the seeds of love, and I will reap that harvest. Just as I reaped the harvest of misery in the old days, so I now reap the harvest of joy. Of LOVE!

We reap what we sow. The warning is still there, but now I also feel encouraged. We do not plant without getting a response from the Gardener!

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NASB