Footsteps #188

Nearly every false teaching is a legitimate truth taken too far, or a biblical idea that has been distorted. The reason the health/wealth advocates are able to dupe so many people is that they are actually quite close to the truth. The Scriptures do teach that God rewards faithful giving. So, how do we distinguish what Paul teaches here from the run-of-the-mill health/wealth con man? Well, let’s start by looking carefully at what Paul tells us in v6: The fact that a person reaps what he sows is a thoroughly biblical principle taught in both Testaments many times. C.f. Gal.6:7-8 which speaks of the Law of the Harvest as it applies to our moral lives.  

You reap what you sow. One thing you will never find is a farmer harvesting wheat when he planted corn! Some people sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they reap corruption, moral decay, poverty, disease, broken relationships, loneliness, and depression. Others sow to the Spirit every day, and because they do so, their lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should not at all be surprised by the different results; they are inevitable. You reap what you sow.  

 There is also the principle of Increase: you reap more than you sow. What farmer would plant a sack of grain in order to harvest a sack of grain? The return is always much greater than the initial investment. This is a beautiful thing to behold, of course, when we are sowing to the Spirit. However, it is a tragic truth when we are sowing to the flesh. Hosea.8:7 puts it this way: “for they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind.”  

 The harvest always takes time. When we’re sowing to the Spirit this fact can sometimes cause us to lose hope, forgetting that sometimes we have to wait a long time before we see the rewards of our efforts. But when we’re sowing to the flesh the same principle can cause us to be careless, believing somehow that we will escape the harvest we have sown. We will not! There will be a payday someday. TBC