Reaping what you Sow

(Prov 13:20 NIrV) Hard times chase those who are sinful. But success is the reward of those who do right.

This morning we continue our series, In this verse Solomon compares the hard life of the sinner with the successful life of the believer. I know that those are ‘broad brush’ terms, but the principles of the Bible support what Solomon is saying.

While we can all find examples of bad things happening to good people and vice-versa, at the end of the day, our decisions and actions will catch up with us. The New Living Translation makes it plain. It reads:

“Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.”

If you really want to see the two options – the benefits of walking with God and the perils of walking without him – truly ‘fleshed out,’ all you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 28. The chapter opens up with Moses saying,

“If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully keep all His commands that I am giving you today, the LORD your God will…”

and he then goes on to lay out 14 verses of promises of both secular and spiritual blessings. In verse 15 Moses said,

“But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you…”

And he proceeded to lay out 53 verses of both secular and spiritual curses. He spent more than three times the amount of verses explaining the curse than the blessing. Why go to such great lengths? I believe it is because the Father wants us to know that our decisions matter. Our life is a grand-sum-total of our decisions.

Back in the 11th chapter Solomon said, “If good people are rewarded here on this earth, all who are cruel and mean will surely be punished.” You can’t have reward without judgment. Our actions are constantly being judged.

God created a system of laws and principles – sowing and reaping, cause and effect, and the free will of humans – that govern the earth.
So, not only WILL we all be judged eventually (ultimate judgment), but our actions are also being judged regularly and we either reap blessing or cursing accordingly. Read the Bible carefully and it will not take you long to realize that most of God’s promises are conditional.

If we fulfill the condition, we receive the reward. If we don’t, we miss out. That’s why I often say, “If you don’t like the harvest you are reaping, check the seed you are sowing.” At the end of the day, we are where we are, because of the decisions we make. This means we cannot blame God and we should not blame others.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia he said, “Don't be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up” (Gal 6:7-9).
So what does this mean to you ? This is a message of encouragement for the believer who was becoming weary in doing right. Don’t give up. Don’t get frustrated. Don’t throw in the towel. Don’t quit. While it may look like some of the unrighteous are getting ahead, don’t overly concern yourself with that. Pray for their souls and keep your focus on Your heavenly Father and your walk with Him. He will see to it that you reap what you sow, so keep sowing good seed. Keep walking upright before Him.

At just the right time you WILL reap a harvest of blessing – if you don’t give up!

Father, I thank You for helping me to keep my focus on You, Your goodness, Your loving-kindness and Your tender mercy. I know that I will reap what I sow and I also know that others will as well. I pray for those that You lead me to pray for and I seek to run my race with confidence, courage, and commitment. I thank You for helping me to develop a NO QUIT attitude and because I refuse to quit, and I am determined to sow the right seed, I will experience the success and victory You desire for me to experience! In Jesus’ name. Amen!