Growing up on our farm in the 50’s and 60’s meant that we had a great deal of very labor-intensive work. We shoveled grain, lifted bales of hay, and much more. The only job I ever really hated was walking the fields to pull weeds. In that day, at least on our farm, we did not use spray to control weeds. Instead, Dad had us all help walk the fields to pull weeds by hand. We had two different fields that, year after year, were always just loaded with weeds. I jokingly accused Dad of sowing weed seeds in the fields so we would have to spend over a month pulling them. Had he sown weed seeds, we knew with certainty we would’ve gotten weeds, because you reap what you sow.

This principle is true throughout life. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8). When Cain sowed the seeds of stubborn rebellion by refusing to bring the proper sacrifice, God rejected his offering. When he jealously killed his brother, God judged him by making him “a fugitive and a vagabond…in the earth” (Genesis 4:12). He was also told that the ground would no longer yield fruit to him. Cain responded by saying: “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (vs. 13). Particularly as a farmer, he should have known that you reap what you sow. When Solomon made the political and spiritual decision to marry multiple wives who worshipped false gods, it was not surprising that “his wives turned away his heart [from worshipping Jehovah]” (I Kings 11:1-4). After all, we reap what we sow. When Paul described saints who chose to live in gross sin like the world, it was predictable that their hearts would have spiritual “blindness” and become “past feeling” (Ephesians 4:18-19). We reap what we sow. When Paul warned about the Bema Seat, he said: “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (I Timothy 5:24). In eternity, we’ll reap giving an account for whatever we sow now.

This principle is timeless, and we can benefit by it. Let’s choose today to sow a life of godliness and service so that what we reap in eternity will be joyous.