When it comes to responsibility, we experience the consequences later and greater...

This week, we are looking at a principle that surrounds responsibility that does not discriminate. There is a law regarding responsibility that works the same way for all people. Wednesday, we began looking at the context in which this law or principle is revealed and discovered that followers of Jesus have a responsibility to help one another stay on track and live responsible lives when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. We also discovered that followers of Jesus have a responsibility to support and encourage one another relationally and financially.

Today, after providing the context for this principle, we see Paul transition to reveal this timeless and true principle when it comes to responsibility in verse 7:

            Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Now when Paul uses the phrase do not be deceived, this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: “Do not fool yourself into thinking that you can fool God. You can pull the wool over your momma’s eye’s; you can pull the wool over your daddy’s eye’s; you can pull the wool over your community group’s eyes; you can even pull the wool you’re your pastor’s eyes; but you cannot pull the wool over God’s eyes”. 

Paul then reveals the proof as to the reason why you cannot pull the wool over God’s eyes with a timeless but true principle: “for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Have you ever heard the phrase “you reap what you sow”? This phrase actually comes from the Bible. This phrase is often referred to as the Law of the Harvest.

And as with any law or principle, this principle is not good; this principle is not bad; this principle just is. Paul uses this principle as proof that you cannot deceive, mock, or fool God. Whatever drives the actions of our lives will drive the results that are produced in our lives. Whatever fruit, or results, that are produced in our lives, are the direct results of our attitudes and actions in life. And we are responsible for the fruit or results that are produced in our lives, because we are responsible for the attitudes and actions that drive our lives. We see Paul unpack this reality in verse 8:

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Here we see Paul reveal the stark contrast that arises between the results that are produced as the result of irresponsibility and the results that are produced by a life that is lived responsibly. For those who are live irresponsible lives when it comes to our relationship with God by allowing our lives to be driven by selfishness and rebellion that results in us doing things that hurt God and hurt others, Paul explains that the fruit, or the results of their lives, will be to experience eternity apart from God. 

For those who are living responsible lives that strive to follow the message and teaching of Jesus by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul explains that the fruit, or the results of their lives, will be to experience the relationship with God that they were created for throughout all eternity.

Because you reap what you sow. Whatever drives the actions of our lives will drive the results that are produced in our lives. Whatever fruit, or results, that are produced in our lives, are the direct results of our attitudes and actions in life. And we are responsible for the fruit or the results that are produced in our lives, because we are responsible for the attitudes and actions that drive our lives.

But there is a tension when it comes to the Law of the Harvest, isn’t there? There is a tension when it comes to this principle that we reap what we sow. And that tension often arises because we do not immediately experience the consequences for our actions. The tension often arises because we do not immediately see the results of our decisions.

Have you ever experienced that tension? Have you ever experienced the tension, the frustration that can often arise when you try to be more responsible, but you do not see the results of your efforts immediately? Have you ever experienced the tension and frustration of trying to lose weight or exercise or quit an irresponsible behavior, only to give up after seemingly seeing no results or change? How often do we give up on our attempts to be responsible and fall back to being irresponsible because of a lack of immediate results? We see Paul address this tension and frustration in verse 9:

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Paul commands the members of the churches of Galatia to not lose heart in doing good. Now this little phrase to not lose heart literally means to not lose one’s motivation to continue to do something. What they were not to lose motivation about was in doing good, which refers to living a life of high moral quality. But why would the Apostle Paul have to command followers of Jesus to not lose their motivation when it comes to living a life of high moral quality and responsibility that reveals and reflects Christ?

Paul provides that answer for us in the second half of verse 9 when he states that for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Paul is commanding followers of Jesus to not give up or give out when it comes to living responsible lives that reveal and reflect Christ, because over time the motivation that drives the actions of our lives will drive the results that are produced in our lives and through our lives. But why does Paul even have to say that? What is going on here?

To understand why Paul would give this command, we first need to understand something else about the principle of the Law of the Harvest. What we need to understand about the Law of the Harvest is that we reap later and we reap greater.

Since most of us today do not farm, let me give you an example to help unpack this reality. I grew up in the Midwest and in the Midwest corn farming usually begins in late March or early April. During the early spring, famers plant a tiny corn seed into the ground and begin to water it. Then the farmer waters and watches what he has sown. March-nothing. The month of April-nothing; the month of May- a little plant begins to sprout; June- seemingly very little growth. Growing up in the Midwest, we had a little saying “knee high by the 4^th of July”. In other words, the hope was that by the 4^th of July, the corn plant would be knee high. So for four months, this corn seed would have grown only this high. I don’t know about you, but that is not a lot of progress.  

But in the months of July and August, the corn plant grew from knee high to being over 6 feet tall. And by September, farmers are beginning to harvest multiple ears of corn from this large plant that started off as a little seed some six months earlier. You see, as a farmer, you know that you reap greater and you reap later. You reap something that is much greater than what you have sown. And you reap much later than when you have sown. You do not sow and then reap the next day; it takes time. But in time, your efforts produce fruit.

And that is why, in verse 10, Paul encourages the members of the churches of Galatia to stay motivated and take advantage of every opportunity to live responsible lives that reveal and reflect Christ to those around us.

And it is here that we see that Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the whole issue of responsibility. And that timeless truth is this: When it comes to responsibility, we experience the consequences later and greater. As followers of Jesus, we are to stay motivated to take responsibility for our lives because we experience the consequences for the decisions we make in life later in life. And we are to stay motivated to take responsibility for our lives because we experience the consequences for the decisions that we make in our lives greater in life.

Think of it this way: We do not wake up one morning to suddenly find ourselves so deep in debt that we need to consider bankruptcy, do we? We do not wake up one morning to suddenly find ourselves 40 pounds overweight, do we? We do not wake up one morning to suddenly find ourselves failing a class, do we? No, that is not what happens is it?

Instead, what happens is we begin to be irresponsible when it comes to our finances, our health, or our homework. But we do not experience the consequences of our irresponsibility immediately, because that is not how the Law of the Harvest works. So we continue to sow seeds of irresponsibility. And then much later and much greater, we experience the consequences of that irresponsibility.

The good news when it comes to the Law of the Harvest is that when we begin to live our lives responsibly; when we begin to sow seeds of responsibility, while we do not see the immediate results of being responsible, over the long haul, much later and much greater, we will experience the consequences of that responsibility. Because, when it comes to responsibility, we experience the consequences later and greater.

So here is the question: What kinds of seed are you sowing? What attitudes and actions are driving your life? What is going to be produced much later and much greater in your life? Are you taking responsibility for your life? Really?