Key scripture – “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. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:7-10).

Did you know that God has laws that are irrevocable?

The law in the Key scripture today is the law of the harvest. God does not want us to be deceived, He wants us to know that He is not mocked, therefore, if we live by the flesh we will reap corruption, destruction and death, and if we live by the spirit we reap good, righteousness and eternal life. That is why God tells us, “Whatever a man sows he will reap, and whatever a man plants, he will harvest.” Therefore, he who sows to the wind will reap the whirlwind, he who sows to the spirit will reap the spirit, and he who sows to the flesh will reap the flesh.

What God is trying to tell each one of us in the law of the harvest is, “it is all about what you are planting in your life.”

1. Whatever you sow, you will reap. We harvest only what has been planted. “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (V.7). When a farmer plants watermelon seeds he does not harvest apples, and it is the same with us, if we plant good and do the right thing we will harvest good and righteousness. If we plant sin and we do evil, we will harvest corruption, destruction and death. Now this can be good news or this can be bad news, it all depends on what you are planting.

2. We harvest the same in kind as we planted. “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.” (V.8). A perfect example in the Bible of someone who harvested the same kind that he planted was Jacob. He deceived his brother out of his birthright, he deceived his father in order to get his blessing. Then Jacob gets deceived by his father-in-law. Then his sons deceive him regarding Joseph. He is deceived about his wives, then his kids later deceive him to get him to go to Egypt. His whole life is a perfect example of the law of harvest, because he sowed deception, therefore, he reaped deception all of his life.

3. We harvest in a different season then when we planted. How many people in their late teens and early 20s do so many destructive things and are now reaping in their late 20s, 30s and 40s the harvest of what they planted. They are trying to recover from the bad choices that they made in their late teens and early 20s. This is where the deception comes in and that is why God says, “Do not be deceived” (V.7). We fool ourselves and think that we are getting away with it, however, we are not, because the harvest never comes in the same season that we planted in, but it will come. We also deceive ourselves into thinking that things will be different, that we won’t suffer any bad consequences from what we sowed, but The Word of God is so clear and it warns us that we will always harvest in a different season then the season that we sowed in.

The time gap between sowing and reaping your harvest is what temps the deception. You think to yourself, “I didn’t feel it today so maybe I got away with it” and then you don’t feel it the next day or the next month or year so you think, “maybe it won’t happen to me”. Since the sowing happens in one season and the harvest another season, people think that they have gotten away with it, but they haven’t.

How many of us have lived like the world and when we come to church on Sunday we pray for crop failure because we don’t want to suffer the consequences of what we sowed during the week. We sit in Church saying, “Please God, don’t let it happen to me, let me be the exception.” We find out real quickly, there are no exceptions. God told us not to do it, so we wouldn’t hurt ourselves, because when we choose to sin, we choose to suffer. Your sin always finds you out. “You have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23b).

You can start today by making better choices so that you sow what you want to actually reap. If you take one step, and another step, and another step in the right direction, which is obeying the commands of God, you will end up with a life that is blessed because you will harvest in multitude what you have planted, which will be goodness and righteousness, not evil, corruption and destruction.

4. We harvest in proportion to what we planted. A lot of hard work – much reward. If you weed, plant, and water your family, your relationships, your job, and your marriage with love, patience, kindness, goodness and self control then you will have a lot at harvest time. ” So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (V.10). Hard work sows good results because this pertains to the amount of dedication that goes into you doing the best at your job, putting in the time necessary to raise your family, and putting the time into your relationships. You will reap what you have sowed with regard to the dedication and love that you put into your family, your relationships, and your job.

5. We must persevere in harvesting good. You must persevere in order to harvest the crops of good. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (V.9). If you quit doing right, you will not get the consequences of the good.

If you want the positive, you must not give up. If you have been serving the Lord for a long time, don’t give up, keep serving. If you have been giving your time, talent and treasure for a long time, don’t give up, keep giving. If you have been praying for a long time for your health or that lost child or relative or friend, don’t give up, keep praying. Don’t stop hopeing. Prodigals can still come home. Finances can be turned around. Your health can be restored. Bodies can still be healed. Marriages can be restored. Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Don’t give up!

The harvest of the good only comes if we persevere. Do not not grow weary of doing good, don’t give up you will reap the reward. So many good things come from just persevering. But you have to be persevering in the good.

6. There is nothing we can do about last year’s harvest. What is in the ground is in the ground. What you planted you have planted. It is going to come up. But there’s a lot you can do about this year’s harvest.

We all need to stop and get alone with the Lord and really have a true introspection with Him about what we are planting, and how we want it to be good and not evil, so that our harvest is good.

Right now get on your knees before God, and make the decision to change by first sowing repentance. You can say, I have been rationalizing and justifying all the wrong that I’ve done, but now I’m going to repent and turn from it. I have been a finger pointer, and now I am going to be a repenter. I have been a person who always blames others for my problems, and now I am going to accept responsibility for my problems. I am now going to be a kneeler before God. I am now going to cling to the Lord and His Word and I am going to start planting better things.

It all starts with repentance. Look at Hosea 10:13, “You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors.” Sow for yourself righteousness and reap mercy. Plow up the fallow ground of your heart. For it is time to seek the Lord.

We all need to remember how important this is, we harvest the same kind that we planted and we reap more than we planted. If you do a few good things, God will bless and multiply them beyond what you can imagine. Look at corn, if you plant one seed when it comes up it is a corn stalk with a bunch of ears of corn on it. That one seed just multiplies and multiplies, and the same thing happens with what we plant. If you sin and you do evil things, they will be multiplied in your life beyond what you could imagine and you will live a hellish life, full of death, corruption, and destruction. “They have sown the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7a).

It is so important that we understand, God is not going to be mocked. If we take His Word lightly we will feel the weight of that in our lives. The law of sowing and reaping is stronger and more lasting than the law of mathematics and science. “The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.” (Proverbs 14:14),

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, please help me to look inside and see what you are saying to me about what I am sowing. Father, I know that You want me to understand how important the law of harvest is to You and the effect that it has on my life and others around me. This is a great day because this is a day that You are pouring Your grace on me and giving me the opportunity to start sowing to the Spirit in all areas of my life and to stop sowing to the flesh. This is a day of opportunity for me to start planting good and reaping righteousness, instead of sowing sin and reaping destruction and death. Father, life is quickly passing and it is truly like a vapor that is here today and gone tomorrow, but for the time that I have left in my life, I want to sow good things. Father, forgive me for my self-righteous attitude and for all the times that I have sown to the flesh. I give to you the sacrifice of my repentant heart. I am seeking your forgiveness right now. Change me so that I start sowing; love, goodness, forgiveness, blessings, mercy, righteousness, peace, patience, kindness, forgiveness and grace, so that I reap a harvest that is pleasing to You and that brings glory to Your Name. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.