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You Will Reap What You Sow Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." (Job 4.8) He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail. (Proverbs 22.8) They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. (8.7) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Galatians 6.7) All of the above passages state a Biblical and scientific truth. It is first stated in Genesis 1, when God said everything shall produce after its own kind. "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth', and it was so" (Genesis 1.11). This applies to vegetation and animals as well. "So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1.21). Based on this principle, farmers know what they will reap in the fall is directly related to what they sow in the spring. Cattlemen, horsemen, and those who breed animals know there is a correlation between the animal and its offspring. Otherwise the farmer would be guessing what he would harvest in the fall. If corn seed produced cotton one year and watermelons the next, the poor farmer would be guessing what he would harvest the third year. Obviously such would be ridiculous. The principle of you will reap what you sow is true for the group or the individual. It does not matter if you are talking about one corn seed or a whole bushel of corn seeds, they will produce corn. It does not matter if you are talking about one individual or a group of people, they will reap what they have sown. Another fact stated in the verses above is this can be good or bad. If we plant bad things, we will reap bad things; if we plant good things we will reap good things. The last fact is that something will be planted. A field left unplanted by the farmer will not be barren. If nothing else, the seeds from weeds will find their way to the soil and you will see a field covered with weeds. I remember one time Regena wanted to plant some morning glories. Growing up hoeing the garden spot and tobacco patch, I remember killing morning glories. It never dawned on me that someone would actually want to plant morning glory seeds. I just thought they grew by spontaneous generation. Obviously I was joking with her, but some people seem to think that what happens in their life is not related to what they have sown. Let us make some application of these facts. If we want to have a godly nation we must sow the word of God. Any nation that disrespects and disregards God's word cannot be good. One time the daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham, was asked how God could allow a hurricane Katrina to occur. This is how she replied. She said, “'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”' I had the privilege of traveling to Russia in 1995. This was just a few years after the former Soviet Union collapsed. Personally I was saddened to see such a country in poverty and disarray. However, we as a nation are facing the same fate. Our government is morally challenged and just about ethically bankrupt. We are starting to see the fruit from the seeds of humanism. If we want to have a godly nation, we must have godly individuals. This means we must be willing to study our Bible to know what God demands of us. Jesus,, in the parable of the Sower said “the seed is the word of God" (Luke 8.11). We must take that seed to heart, and obey our God. That means we must be willing to defend the truth, teach it to our friends and neighbors, and to our children. If that is not done then the seeds of humanism, situation ethics, materialism, false religions, immorality, etc. will be sown. Since I mentioned our children in the earlier paragraph let me ask, "What kind of children do you want to have?" Those with young children need to think seriously about this, for your children will grow up and become what you have taught them to be. If you want teenagers that you can talk to then you must sow the seeds of caring, trust, and love. What kind of marriage do you want to have? The country music singer, Rodney Milsap, had a song "Stranger in My House" in which he sings of a dying love between husband and wife. Unfortunately, a lot of couples grow apart. After a number of years they become strangers. Is that the kind of marriage you want? If not, then now is the time to start sowing the seeds of togetherness, tenderness, honesty, faithfulness, and love. What kind of a congregation do you want to be a member? Would you want to be a member of a dead and lifeless church? If so then sow the seeds of jealousy, worldliness, gossip, envy, strife, jealousy, etc. If we (you and I) want a growing and vibrant congregation then we (you and I) must sow the seeds of placing God first, of Jesus being the head and foundation of His church, of defending the truth, of following the pattern in the New Testament, and of an active working faith. We are entering a new year. 2010 is now used in past tense and 2011 is in the present tense. As we enter this year let us keep in mind that we will sow something this year. Either we will sow spiritual or carnal seeds. As time goes by, we will start to see the fruits of what we have sown and so will everyone else. -- Dennis Tucker
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