We spent last weekend in Boston visiting our daughter, son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren. I had the opportunity to get to know our new grand- daughter Ada, who was born on January 16. She is beautiful, peaceful, and precious. Her older siblings, Micah and Simeon, love her dearly. We drove back to Endicott Tuesday. It was a glorious and gorgeous day, both sunny and brilliant throughout the trip. We drove to Endicott during the most brilliant sunset.
As we were driving back to New York I was reflecting upon the fact that we live in a fantastic universe. Our planet, a tiny speck in this vast universe, is filled with illustration upon illustration of the mind-boggling order and design that God has written into every fiber of His creation. For example, have you ever thought about the changing of the seasons that we experience? August can be extremely hot and December through February can be bitterly cold. We may at times complain about the extremes that we experience, but we really don’t know how extreme the heat and cold could get if the earth were not perfectly positioned 93,000,000 miles away from the sun and tilted at just the right angle. If we were positioned a little closer to the sun then we would burn up like forgotten toast in the oven. If we were positioned a little further way from the sun then we would freeze like a Popsicle. God has placed us in just the right place for life to thrive.
God’s intricate design is written into His creation to teach us who He is and to show us that He is a God of purpose. Along with His design, God has also written natural laws into His creation which we know as the “Law of Gravity” or the “Laws of Thermodynamics.” Though we may debate the truth of these natural laws all we want, it remains true that if you jump off of a ten story building you will quickly learn about the “Law of Gravity.”
Just as there are laws of nature that govern the universe there are also moral and spiritual laws that God has written into His creation. We can try to get around God’s laws that govern our lives, but we will end up bringing about our own ruin if we ignore God’s counsel.
"Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become 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. (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV)
This is an immensely powerful section of God’s Word for us who live in a day when immorality is rampant, when good is called evil and evil is called good. “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Don’t be deceived. Don’t try to convince yourself that you can get away with such … you cannot. God has never, and will never, be mocked. The word for “mocked” is a very descriptive word in the Greek language. The word means, “to turn up the nose, sneer at, to show contempt for, or to ridicule.”
A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7b-8 NIV) The lesson in sowing and reaping is a universal truth. There is no farmer who sows wheat in his fields and expects to harvest corn. No one can plant an orchard of oranges and expect to sell apples from those trees at market. We cannot "sow our wild oats" and expect to reap a harvest of peace, joy, and righteousness. As a matter of fact, the sowing of wild oats leads to crop failure.
The Scripture points out two different ways that we can “sow.” To what end are you and I sowing? Are we sowing to the flesh, our sin nature, and that which we want? Are we sowing to the Spirit, the will of God, and His purpose for our lives? It is imperative that we understand how and what we are sowing because the crop will come in due season.
Paul says that if we are sowing to the flesh then we will reap destruction. The Greek word for “destruction” means, “corruption, destruction, perishing, or decay.” Timothy George says in his commentary on Galatians, that the word phtora, ‘destruction,’ ‘decay,’ ‘corruption,’ conveys the idea of a putrid corpse in the process of decomposition … the consequences of sin are nowhere more vividly seen than in the ravaging of the human body through disease, decay, and death. (Timothy George, Galatians, p. 423)
On the other hand, the believer who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. The Christian who is preoccupied with the things of God rather than the fleshly things of the world will produce the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23). To sow to the Spirit is the same as to walk by the Spirit (5:18) or abiding in Christ and in His Word and having His words abide in us (John 8:31; 15:7). It is the same as walking in Christ (Colossians 2:6) and setting one’s ‘mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth’ (Colossians 3:2). It is also equated with giving one’s body as ‘a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,’ and not being ‘conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2). (John MacArthur, Galatians, p. 189)
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBNE25rtnE
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church. Endicott
53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott.
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday February 26, 2011
6PM Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Aric Phinney and the worship Team
Speaker: Rev. Brown Naik
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