The Law of Sowing & Reaping

Quick question: how many of you have ever heard anyone talk about “Karma?”

I don’t think I ever heard that word until a few years ago, but it seems like it’s all over the place. People talk about how “karma” is going to get you. And they’ll say “Don’t do that - it’s bad karma.”

Karma is actually a pagan term. It comes from hinduism. Literally, the word means “action, work, or deed.” But in Hinduism it has come to mean this - whatever you do today, will come back to bite you or bless you later.

We aren’t pagans. I don’t like to use the word “Karma” because it’s a hindu word. It’s a pagan word. I think paganism is dangerous.

But the idea of Karma - the idea that your actions today have consequences tomorrow - that’s not something Hinduism came up with. The Hindus and the Bhuddists call it Karma - but we Christians call it the law of sowing and reaping.

Look at Galatians 6:7-10 with me:

”[Gal 6:7-10 KJV] 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

The Bible says “you reap what you sow.” It means that your actions today have consequences for tomorrow.

Patch the Pirate has this song called “You reap what you sow” and it says

You reap what you sow, you get what you grow, this is the law that the Lord has made. Give to others and you’ll never lack. Plant some good and your good will come back.

I like that song. They have another one called “the boomerang” that teaches this same principle:

The boomerangs gonna come back, gonna come back, gonna come back to you. So be careful what you say my friend and be careful what you do. If you go through life, giving out evil you’ll get back evil too, cause the boomerang’s gonna come back, gonna come back, gonna come back to you.

The law of sowing and reaping. This is actually something that you see in many places in the Bible:

• The book of Job talks about sowing wickedness
• The proverbs talk about sowing discord and sowing righteousness
• The book of Hosea talks about “Sowing to the wind and reaping the whirlwind” and in another verse “Sowing righteousness and reaping mercy”
• 2 Corinthians 9:6 says: ”But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

You reap what you sow.

Of course, these are farming words. Sowing is another word for planting seed. Reaping is another word for harvesting seed. What this is saying in modern terms is “you harvest what you plant.” But I like the old King James “You reap what you sow.”

And this is a spiritual law of nature. Just like you can’t cheat gravity - if you go up you are coming down. You can’t cheat the second law of thermodynamics - things will result in chaos if you don’t work against them. You can’t cheat the law of sowing and reaping - if you sow, you will reap.

Now, a couple of thoughts about this law of sowing and reaping that I think we need to understand:

The law

1. You always reap WHAT you sow.

This means, that if you plant corn, you aren’t going to grow watermelons. If you plant soy beans, you aren’t going to grow tomatoes. Whatever kind of seed you put in the ground, when the harvest comes, that’s the crop that is coming up.

You reap WHAT you sow.

Notice the passage here. It says:

”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 of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

God is telling us - listen - if you sow bad stuff, you are going to get bad stuff. If you sow good stuff, you are going to get good stuff. If you sow spiritual actions - you’ll grow. If you sow carnal actions - your Christian life will shrink.

In a sense, life is like a mirror, you get out of it what you put in.

Listen, if you can’t make church a priority, you aren’t going to grow spiritually. If you don’t read your Bible, you aren’t going to grow spiritually. You have to sow to the Spirit.

Alternatively, if you hang around your bar hopping friends, you are going to become more carnal. You are sowing to the flesh, and you’ll reap corruption. If you fill your mind with filthy tv shows, or pornography, you are sowing the seeds of the flesh and you’ll reap corruption.

In the computer world, they have this acronym GIGO. Garbage in - Garbage out. The same is true in the Christian life. If you are constantly living on a diet of the garbage of this world, it’s going to manifest itself in garbage actions in your life.

You are going to reap what you sow. God is not mocked. In other words, you won’t be the exception to this rule. You won’t be the guy who throws garbage seed into the ground of your life and reaps a bountiful harvest. You have to sow righteousness and sow to the Spirit.

You always reap WHAT you sow.

Second, you always reap LATER than you sow.

Verse 9 says:

”And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

A farmer doesn’t plant his corn the second week of April and harvest the first week in May. It takes time for a crop to grow. It sometimes seems like it takes a long time.

You can’t microwave a crop. You can’t rush it. It’s going to take it’s time. It’s not a fast process.

The same is true for the consequences of our sowing. You may be reading your Bible and going to church and you aren’t seeing the crop in your life you want yet - give it time. In due season you will reap. You can’t rush it. It doesn’t happen overnight.

Most worthwhile things take time to accomplish. If you could decide this week you wanted to be an olympic Gold medalist in the 400 yard dash and accomplish it next week. It wouldn’t be that special. It takes a lifetime of sowing discipline to get there.

I was eating a granola bar recently and on the wrapper it said “What are you doing today that your future self will thank you for?”

If you are sowing the right things today, your future self will be thankful. You lay the foundation and you build the house brick by brick. Hour by hour. Minute by minute. Decision by decision.

You will reap LATER than you sow.

And listen, this is true for bad decisions too. The bad decisions you make today will turn into bad harvests tomorrow.

• The lust you sow in your mind today will turn into adultery tomorrow.
• The little sip you take today will turn into full-blown drunkenness tomorrow.

Lot didn’t set out to be a wicked man. I imagine if you showed young Lot a video of the way old Lot was acting he’d say “never me.” But he saw the well watered plains of Sodom and he thought it would be a good place to live. But bad decision followed bad decision, and the rest is history.

As Emerson said:

Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, reap a destiny.

It starts with a thought. But sow enough thoughts and add enough time and you have a harvest.

You will reap WHAT you sow. You will reap LATER than you sow.

One more thought about the law of the harvest.

Third, You will reap MORE than you sow.

When you plant corn, each kernel becomes a plant. That’s the goal at least. So at harvest time, if you sow 500 kernels, you get 500 kernels back in harvest, right?

No. What would be the point of that?

No, you get one or two full ears of kernels per plant. Each of those ears will have around 800 kernels. That means if you sow 500 kernels, and each of them grows, you’ll get 1,000 times back what you put in.

The harvest is always much more than the planting. You reap more than you sow.

The old preachers used to say:

Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.

The prodigal never imagined he’d be eating out of hog troughs. Lot never imagined he’d be having children with his own daughters, hiding out in a cave. Judas never imagined he’d be trading the life of Jesus for a little silver.

So many men never imagined they wouldn’t be welcome at their kids graduation because they sowed the seeds of adultery and ruined their family. Nobody ever imagined they’d be roaming the streets begging for $7 for a hit of heroine because they sowed the seeds of addiction. Or sitting behind bars because they sowed the seeds of drunkeness and got behind the wheel of a car and killed someone.

But these things happen EVERY day. You reap what you sow. You reap later than you sow. You reap more than you sow.

This same principle, can be put to work for good. Sow godliness and you won’t believe the harvest. You won’t be able to fathom it. Life everlasting and most often blessings on this earth too.

Can you imagine the blessings of getting to heaven and hearing “well done, thou good and faithful servant?” Can you imagine getting crowns from your Lord for your good work here on this earth?

Can you imagine meeting the folks in heaven who were saved because of your testimony and your sharing the gospel?

Most people have never heard of Edward Kimbell. He was just a lowly Sunday school teacher. But Edward Kimbell took the time to lead a young worker boy named D. L. Moody to the Lord, just sowed a little seed. Can you imagine the harvest Edward Kimbell will reap in heaven.

Do you want to be the parent that is called blessed? That is remembered for your steadfast godliness?

You’ve got to sow the right seed.

You reap what you sow, you reap later than you sow, you reap more than you sow.

The Applications

Now, back in our text. What applications did Paul mean when he introduced this principle of sowing and reaping? There are two of them in these verses.

First, Paul meant for us to apply this verse to our living.

That’s why in verse 8 he talks about sowing to the flesh or sowing to the Spirit.

The law of Sowing and Reaping should be applied to your life. To your choices. What you do today has consequences tomorrow. The boomerangs gonna come back. You reap what you sow.

Some of you have some repenting to do, because you have been sowing some bad stuff. You’ve been letting bad thoughts fester in your head. You’ve been letting bad habits creep into your life.

“Be not deceived. God is not mocked.”.

You aren’t going to be the guy who beats the law of sowing and reaping. You aren’t going to be the exception.

What are you sowing in your life? Are you sowing faithfulness? Are you sowing right priorities? Are you sowing godliness?

Or are you sowing carnality? Are you sowing sin?

Let’s apply this principle to our life. Because what we sow will result in a harvest.

Second, Paul meant for us to apply this verse to our giving.

That’s actually the main point of the context. These verses come in passages about bearing burdens and about taking care of the preacher (verses 1-6) and then verse 10 says:

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

When you give - you aren’t throwing your money away. You are investing it in a spiritual harvest.

You can’t outgive God. You know that.

This week, someone reached out to me for some help. I didn’t really have time to help him. I had my own problems. But he was a Christian, doing something for the right reason and he genuinely needed some help and I could help him so I did.

I’m not saying this to toot my own horn. I’ve failed this test plenty of times. I’m telling you this because that person turned around and sent me more than 10x what I would have charged him to help him, just when I needed it.

It was just a reminder that you can’t outgive God. That Patch the Pirate song says

Give to others and you’ll never lack. Plant some good and your good will come back.

What good are you planting today? What are you doing now that your future self will thank you for?

It’s not karma, it’s the law of reaping and sowing. Let’s stand for invitation and prayer.