Sowing and reaping…
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I grew up in the countryside where we had a mini orchard. Ever since I've had a passion for picking produce off the tree or a plant. There is something so fulfilling about it, although I did have help getting this head of lettuce out!
All plants started as seeds. Somebody worked hard to till the soil, throw out the seed, then water and nurture it as it grew. And after all of that effort, there's a beautiful piece of produce! This reminds me of the spiritual law of “sowing and reaping."
We truly do reap what we sow. Galatians 6:8 says that if we “sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption. But if we sow to the spirit we will reap life." Yet there is another layer of this "spiritual law" that was life-changing for me. When God healed my cavities (see my story here), I stepped into a revelation of the COVERING POWER of Jesus. It's by the grace and the kindness of God that we don't reap many of the things that we sowed into. It's also by the grace and the kindness of God that we reap many good things that we didn't sow into. Because He is merciful, "he sends the rain to fall on the righteous and on the unjust".
I'm not saying that we don't reap from poor choices we've sown into—unfortunately, we do. Gulp. However, reaping destruction is not the language of God's heart. He doesn't want you to reap destruction, He wants you to reap life and good things. His heart is redemption, and breaking the curse of sin and shame in your life. When He broke the curse of sin, He literally removed our punishment and our penalty from us. (Col. 2:14)
The GOODNESS of God covers that which we've poorly sown into.
Karma seems to imply that you will reap from every bad thing you’ve done, but God is the Restorer, He came to reverse your past poor choices and to breathe life over you. —This is grace at work. We extend grace to each other when we mess up, and God extends grace to us.
This is why Jesus died on the cross: to break the curse of sin and death over your life and to bring life & renewal (Rom. 6:23, Gal. 3:13).
You have the resurrection power at your fingertips. He came to remove sin and the result of sin from us. Yes, the Bible does say that temptation leading to sin brings forth death, and it's true. His grace isn’t given so that we can just go around doing things that will bring corruption, certainly not! Don't take advantage of God's grace. God is concerned with your heart, and He is a good Father who disciplines and redirects those who are intentionally choosing things that aren't life-giving or pure.
Thankfully, the grace and kindness of God can change any story around and spring forth LIFE, rivers of living water, in the midst of previous poor choices. When you sow into GOOD things, you will reap good from it and you will also be rewarded a crop that is even more abundant than you sowed in to. How cool is that?! (check out this scripture)
When you've made a change and repented before God, turning your life to him, this is when you see the resurrection life springing forth, and our penalty removed from us. In Luke 8:11, the Bible and every word of God is referred to as seeds of life—He deposits seeds of life inside of you. God is the BEST FARMER.
Reflection
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you a time when he helped you reap something you did not sow.
Think of one time that God in his goodness allowed you to walk out the consequences of your actions.
a. How did He encounter you in that process?
b. Ask Him, “Lord, what did Your protection look like as I went through this?
c. Then ask Him, “Lord, what bonus gift did You give me through this that I wouldn’t have otherwise?
3. What is something you’ve been asking of the Lord that you have not yet seen come to life?
a. Ask the Lord what seeds have already been planted in this area?
b. Now ask Him, “Lord, is there anything I need to do to tend these seeds?” Write down what He says and keep it somewhere to remind you of your role in bringing this to life.
c. Finally, surrender these seeds to the Best Farmer and ask what He promises to do to bring them to life.
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