It’s a fact of life in the natural world that we reap what we sow. If we plant apple trees, apple trees will grow – they won’t magically morph into banana trees. This is so obvious we take it for granted, and in the same way in the spiritual world, we reap what we sow. ‘Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.’ (Gal 6:7-8) As the meerkats say, ‘Simples!’
It really matters what we sow. If we sow kindness and compassion, mercy and grace, love and forgiveness, those are the things we will reap. If we sow envy and jealousy, anger and impatience, hatred and resentment, we will reap those things later in life.
If we want to grow spiritually, we must contantly learn to sow to the spiritual life – and learn patience and perseverance as we wait for those crops to grow (Gal 6:9-10). Crops don’t grow overnight, and spiritual fruit takes time to grow and develop. We need not only to be sowing the right things but need also to keep the long view in all things. Hos 10:12 says ‘Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.‘ What are you sowing?
