As we move into the text in Galatians 6 today, the principle of sowing and reaping is teased out by the apostle Paul . Now, if you’re like me, this agricultural concept could potentially fall flat, because I don’t grow my own food in my back yard.  I have never planted a single thing that I grew to the point that it produced a crop and I ate it.  In fact, I have a difficult enough time just keeping my yard green, much less grow anything that could produce a crop. I have zero trust in myself to make that happen.  However, in every HEB and Kroger in the area are fruits and vegetables that started as a seed planted, sown by a farmer, a harvest reaped and it was brought to market for my, our benefit – We can go back to the beginning of chapter 6 and lean on the “burden/load” idea.  My burden to be able to grow something of nutritional value is another man’s load, their natural gifting.

However, spiritually speaking, you are sowing and reaping every day – in fact, you are simultaneously sowing an reaping right now – every thought is sowing something in my life, and the more I think in a certain way, and give myself over to it, I began to reap the consequences of that way of thinking, both good and bad – Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV), “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” As you feed or sow your thoughts, you are eventually becoming what you believe – Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “Sow a thought, reap an act; Sow an act, reap a habit; Sow a habit, reap a character, Sow a character, reap a destiny.” It starts with a thought and ends with a destiny – YIKES! There’s a lot at stake, so I need to understand the idea of sowing and reaping in my life – Galatians 6:6-9

V6 – “nevertheless…” – what is he referring to here? The thing he has just said – V4-5, that each one should test his own actions, stay in your own lane, don’t compare your gifts with someone else, carry your own load – remember, the whole idea here is that your load, or natural gifting, is someone else’s burden, and their burden might be your natural gifting – in short, WE NEED EACH OTHER – so, he says, “nevertheless, the one who receives good instruction in the word should share ALL GOOD THINGS with their instructor” – ok, so this could get really self-serving here, but I want to make a broader point – Paul is saying that you should take of, or honor those who are spiritually instructing you – Every week, I spend time in the scriptures, studying, meditating on and preparing a message for you, hoping to inspire you to more fully follow Jesus in your life – But I’m not the only one – Every week, there are volunteers in children’s ministry, student ministry, Regen, Reengage, Life Groups, men’s and women ministries that are doing the same thing – I get texts intermittently from Andy Cano, who leads a men’s movement on Friday mornings and Monday mornings at 630 and 8 at Rudy’s – These texts are scripture or books he’s reading in preparation to lead the men in his group – What Paul is saying here is that you should “share all good things” with your instructor – What are “all good things?” It could be as little as a note of encouragement, or as much as a gift card – The point is to honor those who are carrying the LOAD of living in their E210 calling of instruction. 

V7 – Now he has introduced the idea of sowing and reaping, and he begins with the negative impact that sowing the wrong things has on your heart – “Don’t be deceived: God CANNOT be mocked” – the worst kind of deception is SELF-DECEPTION, when you over time, believe the END justifies the means – When you allow yourself to live in secrets, or a habitual pattern of brokenness in your life, but fully convince yourself that God’s OK with it, you’re in trouble – God CANNOT be mocked.

Illus – For years, as a professional Christian, I lived a very culturally acceptable life, with no governor on my language, what I watched or listened to, subtle and not so subtle lies and manipulation, and actually convinced myself that God was OK with me because I saw external fruit in my ministry – so here is where SOWING and REAPING comes into play, and 3 principles that are important:

1. You REAP what you SOW.
2. You REAP more than you SOW.
3. You REAP later than you SOW.

1. You REAP what you SOW.

V8-  Paul is pulling us back into the narrative here of flesh vs Spirit – Remember, we said a couple of weeks back that only in the life of a believer is the flesh at war with the Spirit, because apart from a relationship with Jesus, you are ALL FLESH, ALL THE TIME – and look at the results: Sow the FLESH, reap DESTRUCTION – What does this mean? It means that if you are bent on pleasing yourself at all cost, it will destroy your life – Hosea 8:7, “Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind” – What starts as something simple and small can spiral out of control in a hurry – you know what I’m talking about – pain meds that become an opioid addiction, a vulnerable conversation with a member of the opposite sex that turns into an affair, a few “curious” mouse clicks that leads to daily bondage to pornography – and again, back to self-deception: You are not the exception – Your decision to serve yourself, to satisfy your insatiable hunger will ONLY lead to DESTRUCTION, DECAY, the CRASH SITE. –

But look at the alternative: “Sow to please the Spirit and you reap eternal life” – so, this isn’t speaking simply to Salvation, but to a life of ETERNAL VALUE – What does this look like?

This is life in the Secret Place – How do you sow seeds the reap eternal value? It is the daily decision to surrender your life, ALL OF IT, to Jesus – Galatians 2:20, Luke 9:23, Psalm 139:23-24 – This is a picture of an exchanged life, that every day, I surrender my life, beginning with my thoughts and beliefs, to Jesus – Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 -  How do I develop the mind of Christ? I spend time DAILY cultivating that relationship – The Spirit teaches me “spiritual realities”, the way things really are, and “spirit-taught words”, or a new spiritual language as I sit with him daily and soak in all that he has for me – over time, as I SOW into that relationship, I REAP a NEW MIND, a NEW WAY of THINKING, and EVERYTHING FLOWS FROM IT.

2. You REAP more than you SOW.

What you SOW has exponential consequences, either positive or negative – Negatively, “SIN takes you farther than you ever intended to go, keeps you longer than you ever intended to stay, and costs you mor than you were ever willing to pay.” Look at the life of David: 2 Samuel 11:1 – “in the Spring, when kings go off to war, David stayed home” – the enemy loves you in isolation – at home alone – he covets, he commits adultery, he murders, he lies - You know how this has played out in your life – it started with an ember, caught on fire, and burned your house down.

but positively, the life you’ve never believed possible is actually available as you daily sow seeds of the Spirit in your life – again, the life of eternal value, living into your E210 calling is birthed and developed day after day in the Secret Place, until you’re living the life you never dreamed was possible – Never wanted to pastor a church, certainly didn’t feel worthy of it, but I have definitely REAP MORE THAN I SOWED – it is a KINGDOM PRINCIPLE.

3. You REAP later than you SOW.

V9 – What “wearies” me of doing good? When I don’t get instant gratification – Think about the cycle of sowing and reaping – you fertilize and spread seed, then you water and WAIT – It takes TIME to REAP a HARVEST – We live in a microwave/DVR culture – I go to the gym two days in a row and expect it to transform my body – I resist overspending one week and expect my finances to be transformed – I spend time with Jesus twice one week and expect complete spiritual transformation – the harvest comes “at the PROPER TIME” – who determines the PROPER TIME? God’s timing is ALWAYS the PROPER TIME – James 1:2-4 – Maturity and Completeness comes through CONSISTENCY over TIME – Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) – WAITING ON THE LORD produces STRENGTH.

Closing thoughts:

• You reap WHAT you sow. Don’t live in self-deception; you are becoming what you are sowing in your life. 2 Peter 1:3 - A Godly life is available, but won’t drift there – intentionality.
• You reap MORE than you sow. Jesus wants to blow your mind with his provision. He wants to give you spiritual vision for your life, and open unopenable doors for you.
• You reap LATER than you sow. Jesus plays the long game. He wants to develop something of eternal value and it takes time.