Law Of The Harvest

Law of a harvest

Galatians 6:1-10

Introduction-

Today we celebrate July 4th. To some it is only a day of picnics and a day off, but for some it was a great sacrifice of wanting to see change. It is a group of people that said enough is enough. We will break away from England and gain our independence, and put more dependence on God. There is a law of the harvest. It is simple- what you sow you will reap. You plant apples, you expect apples. You won’t get pears. That same principal is for all areas of our life including the spiritual. You plant nothing, what will you get? Nothing. You plant cucumbers, you can’t expect beautiful flowers. The seed bears the fruit of what you planted. Society today is always trying to take short-cuts. Don’t believe me? People play the lottery because it is a way (they believe) to get something for little or nothing. Not to work hard, but reap a big harvest. People look at others that have things and are jealous of them. They do not want to put the time, effort, money it took for them to get what they have. They don’t want to make any sacrifice for it. We want what our grandparents have worked hard for and we want it now without the 40 years it took to get it. Paul addresses the concept of sowing and reaping in our lives both how we should react to others and what we can expect in our own lives.

Galatians 6:1-10 Paul understand society and people. The word for sin Paul uses here is the Greek word Paraptoma- not deliberate sin, but a slip up. (Like slipping on a icy road) He goes unto say that Christians trying to live a life for Christ can if they are not careful are apt to judge others more harshly. Paul says it is the duty of Christians to get people back on their feet after a slip up. The word for correct is to repair like a surgeon. Then he goes into telling us a recipe so that it won’t happen to us and can be avoided. He then brings some strong words to the believers in (v7). “Don’t be deceived; God is not mocked.” Don’t deceive yourselves- don’t think that God doesn’t know what is going on. A person is going to reap what He/She sows. If we sow to the world- reap destruction. If we sow to the spirit- eternal life. But then he gives us some words of encouragement. I believe these are words of comfort for the church and for us individually. “Let us not weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” The principal here has been around forever. Jesus taught the parables of the farmers. Hosea the prophet taught - “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind” Hosea 8:7. I don’t know who wrote it- “When you play with fire, you are going to get burned” Catch phrases that tell us the law of process. “For every action there is a reaction.” Paul says, you cannot deceive God. God knows what kind of seed you are sowing, and whatever seed you sow, that is the kind of seed you will reap when harvest day comes. One of the questions asked most to me as a pastor is why does bad things happen to good people? I try to answer it this way. There is sin in the world. Until Jesus returns there will be sin in the world. The word tells us that blessings rain on the just and the unjust. Meaning- blessings and problems happen to everyone. All walks of life. Believers and unbelievers. There are consequences for our actions, and consequences of other people’s actions. You are a serious drinker and you destroy your liver, it is a consequence of your actions. Someone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle drunk and innocent lives are affected. You smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day, develop cancer of the lungs, it is a consequence of your actions. You are raised in a house of a smoker and you breath in second hand smoke, innocent people are affected. God can forgive you, you have a choice of quitting or stopping anytime, but what you sow, you will reap. It is the law of the harvest. Let’s look at a few things we can learn from apostle Paul this morning.

I. Each one of us is sowing seeds.

You and I are planting seeds everyday. Each one of us have several fields that we harvest. Each one of us one day will bring our harvest in from the field. Example of fields