Sowing And Reaping

Illus: It seems the older we get, many of us find ourselves at the bottom of the staircase trying to remember, DO I WANT TO GO UP, OR DID I JUST COME DOWN?

When we get like this, we have to be able to come up with something quickly, to get out of the situations we find ourselves in.

Illus: For example, a fellow forgot his wife’s birthday, and she was furious. Once she brought it to his attention, he got himself out of the situation, when he tactfully said to her, “Honey, you look younger than the day I married you. It is difficult for me to think of you having a birthday.”

That compliment, even though it may not be true, was the biggest birthday present he could have possibly given her.

It seems that the older we grow, the more difficult it becomes for us to remember things.

Illus: We are not like the Indian who had a tremendous memory. One day a man told another man about his memory. He said, “Oh, you have got to be kidding, that old man can’t have a good memory.” And he said “I will prove it to you”. He went to him, and he said, “Last week we had breakfast. What did we eat for breakfast?” The old Indian said, “Eggs”. The man said, “That is so general, that does not prove a thing”. Twenty years later, he saw the Indian again, and he mockingly said, “How!” The Indian replied, “Scrambled!”

We are not all able to remember things from ten years ago. WE FORGET A LOT AS WE GROW OLDER.

The same thing applies to us as a nation. That is, the older a nation becomes, the more of the past they seem to forget.

As a nation we have forgotten so many things. Let me point out several things that we have forgotten as a nation.

(1) WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LORD’S DAY

Illus: There used to be a time in this country, when people had so much love for God, and fear of God in their hearts, you could hardly find anyone:

• Going shopping on Sunday

• Cutting the grass on Sunday

• Hanging out clothes on Sunday

• Painting their house on Sunday

And if anyone did these things, they were considered to be an ungodly person, and their neighbors were ashamed of living in the same neighborhood with them.

It seems that as a nation, we have FORGOTTEN the Lord’s day. THE LORD’S DAY NOW IS LIKE ANY OTHER DAY!

There is another thing that we have forgotten as a nation.

(2) We have forgotten that God is a holy God, and God judges sin.

God’s Word states clearly, in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

God’s Word says, “Be not deceived…” A lot of folks these days are deceived.

WHAT ARE THEY DECEIVE ABOUT? They are deceived about sin.

God’s Word says, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

We have people today who are living deceived lives. In fact, they have done so much evil, they cannot remember all the evil they have done. They assume since they have forgotten about all the evil they have done, that God also has forgotten it. But God gives us this warning, IF YOU SOW IT, YOU ARE GOING TO REAP IT!

Not only does the WORD OF GOD teach us this, so does NATURE.

Illus: For example, in the spring you may go out in your back yard, and plant some corn seed. You get so busy and involved in other things, that you soon forget that you planted the seed. Nevertheless, one day you look in your back yard, and you will see corn sprouting up out of the ground. And then you remember, you PLANTED CORN SEED, and now you are REAPING THE VERY THING YOU SOWED.

God’s Word states, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Luke 6:38 basically says the same thing. We read, “….FOR WITH THE SAME MEASURE THAT YE METE WITHAL IT SHALL BE MEASURED TO YOU AGAIN.”

It is the law of almighty God that we reap what we sow.

Let’s look at this verse of scripture in our text closely to see what it means. This verse talks about:

I. A SOLEMN WARNING

God’s Word states clearly, "Be not deceived..." Before there can be deception, there has to be a deceiver.

Illus: On national television, they frequently reveal news about CON MEN. They also point out, that many times these CON MEN prey on the elderly.

These CON MEN (deceivers) know that elderly people are on a fixed income, and they need every dime they have to survive in life. But they will go to the home of an elderly couple with a leaky roof, and give them a price to shingle their house. Once the couple knows, out of necessity, that they have got to get the roof fixed, they will get them to write a check to buy the shingles. But once they get the check in their hands, they cash it, put the money in their pockets, and the elderly couple never sees them again.