July 6, 2025
"Reaping What We Sow"
Galatians 6:1-10
I’d like to focus on verses 7 and 8: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” These two verses really give us something to think about. I’m not sure how many people give this much thought. It seems that many aren’t too concerned about this truth in life.
The problem is society has determined what is and isn’t important in life. And unfortunately, many people get caught in this way of thinking. Once caught in this way of thinking, it’s very hard to break free. It’s hard to think differently. What society decides must be right. Many people go along with this way of thinking.
What has society determined important and not important in life? Well, it’s certainly not the Spirit, with a capital S. Society has put just about everything above the Spirit in terms of importance. The focus is on the here and now. I don’t think I’m saying anything new here. We Christians, gathered here today, know that the Spirit is not on the minds of most people. In our particular society, the emphasis is on worldly and material pursuits. Things like money, possessions, status, pride, etc. are sought after. We’ve heard me mention these things before. It’s not a brand new list.
This is the kind of seed people sow in life. And the material and worldly pursuits I just mentioned are the fruits they hope to reap. If death wasn’t a factor in all of this, I suppose one could make a case for going after worldly pursuits. But the fact is we all will die. At the moment of death, money, possessions, status, pride, and so on come to an end for everyone. If a person sowed these things in life, he won’t reap them in the end. Death will take them all away from him. So, where is the wisdom in sowing to please our sinful nature? There is no wisdom in this. What’s the point of putting all our eggs in the basket of this life? It doesn’t make sense.
Now, if we put all our eggs in the basket of eternal life, that makes much more sense. And that’s because death can’t take it away from us. Death can take away everything we’ve stored up for ourselves in this life, but it can’t take away our eternal treasure: life with the Lord forever. So, it makes much more sense to sow to please the Spirit, with a big S.
These two verses from Galatians direct us toward the purpose of our life on earth. It is to serve the Lord with our life. This is the reason He put us here in the first place. But these verses also state the consequences of our choice. If we sow to satisfy our own desires, we will reap destruction. If we sow to God’s glory, we will reap eternal life.
If we really think about it, life on earth is a big test. I realize many people don’t see it this way, but if we really think about it, life is a big test with grades being given out at the end of life. Those who believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and lived accordingly will get an A and enter into God’s kingdom. Those who chose a different path will receive an F and not enter into God’s eternal glory.
Most people are confused about this, however. Many believe the test of life is achieving worldly success. “If I get that promotion at work, God is going to give me an A. If I get a large crop this year, God will give me an A. I passed the test.” But this isn’t what the test of life is all about. In life God is testing our love for Him. Those who love Him pass the test. If we sow to please the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. We will have passed the test. If we don’t sow to the Spirit, we will fail.
We need to see life through the eyes of Jesus. When we don’t, we tend to think that all those successful in a worldly sense have passed the test of life. “Wow, look at how successful they are.” It appears they got this life thing under control. But the fact is they aren’t passing the test. They are sowing seed in the wrong field. We understand this if we look at life through the eyes of Jesus.
In these verses Paul says that God is not mocked. What does he mean here? He means that God has the final say and that those who think they can pull one over on God are very mistaken. God hands out the grades. Those who think they can do whatever they please on earth and still an A are deceiving only themselves.
God sees all that we do. No one gets away with anything. He sees what a person sows. It may seem that for a time a person is getting away with sowing to please his sinful nature. He is even doing well in life. But in the end he will realize that he got away with nothing. God will have the final say. And as Paul says, “God cannot be mocked.”
People do put God to the test. “He won’t do anything. I’ve been living life the way I want to and nothing has happened to me yet. Who says a person has to live according to God’s word. People can do what they want. Nothing bad will happen to them if they do.” This is an extremely dangerous way to think. Believe me, God won’t let them get away with it, even though it may seem they are.
The reason God hasn’t done anything to them yet is that He is giving them time to realize their foolishness and repent. He is giving them an opportunity to turn from their sinful ways. In other words, He wants to save them.
This explains why evil isn’t always immediately punished. God is giving evil doers a chance to cease their evil ways. He doesn’t desire to destroy them but to save them. But eventually their time will run out. If they haven’t turned from their evil ways, they will reap destruction, eternal destruction at that.
We have been given the gift of life. It is truly a gift from God. I think I can say that most of us enjoy the life God has given us. Most of us are glad to be alive. But we have to remember that God gave us life. We didn’t choose to come to life. And because we didn’t means that we are subject to the one who gave us life. The one who gave us life is more powerful than we are. He makes the rules whether we like it or not.
It’s apparent that most don’t like it. They want to live how they wish. But God didn’t give them life to do as they wish with it. Life is supposed to be lived for God’s glory.
God has given us free will. We can choose either to sow to please our pleasures or sow to please the Spirit. But we are supposed to sow to the Spirit because that is God’s will for us, that is what He gave us our life for.
Sadly, many sow to their destruction. They don’t use their life for how God intended. They will certainly reap what they sow.
We who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection for our salvation will reap the gift of eternal life. By the power of the Spirit we have sown seed to the glory of God. I pray that we will continue to do so. This is God’s will for us. We can’t give up along the way.
It’s kind of like a farmer. Each year he has to sow seed. If he doesn’t, he won’t have a livelihood. He won’t reap a reward. So, he continues to sow seed. In verse 9, Paul says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” If the farmer gives up along the way, he won’t reap a harvest. If we cease to sow good along the way, we won’t reap a harvest. We won’t reap eternal life. So, keep sowing good seed.
The good seed we sow is the good we do to others. Paul says in verse 10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. We sow good to all and especially to our fellow believers. We take especial care of each other.
I pray that we will continue to sow good in this world. I also pray that we continue to feed our faith in the Lord. If we don’t give up along the way, we will reap an everlasting harvest of joy and happiness in God’s eternal kingdom.