Grace in Sowing and Reaping

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 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. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:7-10 ESV).

Happy Birthday Kyle! I am continuously amazed how God uses my family to help me see His greater purpose and ministry of grace in my life. Just the other day I was at Kyle’s house helping him repair his lawn tractor. While he was mowing a steep incline beside his house, the tractor took a strange turn and the front axle assembly completely broke! It wasn’t just a weld that had split, the whole left side of the assembly cracked and left the wheel hanging, useless.

This happened the day before he was to leave for a week of vacation in Texas, and given everything else that had happened that day, it was certainly discouraging. He called me that evening and began to recount all the stuff that had happened and I had to laugh. It was either that or cry! For example, as he was mowing, he had forgotten to turn the timers off on his irrigation system. This by itself wouldn’t have been much more of a problem than getting him wet when they went off. However, he happened to be mowing over the one spot where a sprinkler head was located at the same time the system automatically started. Of course the mower cut that as easily as it did the grass! What a mess! The sprinkler system was broke, the mower was broke, the grass not finished and he was due to leave early the next morning. I went over to the house after our little conversation and looked at the damage. It really wasn’t a total loss. I told him to get out his manual, find the part number and order it. It would be “easy” for us to replace it.

My schedule was such that I couldn’t get to his house after he returned from Texas until late. But, we decided to get started at 8:30 PM! For the most part it was pretty easy to disassemble the mower. We started cleaning and putting it back together and got to one of the last steps and couldn’t figure out the direction one of the parts needed to face. We DID read carefully the diagram and I was certain we had it right, at least until we put the last part on! Yep, it was backward! So, we took it apart again and fixed it. Finally, three hours later we had it put together and ready to mow.

Here’s the point… we were doing our best to follow the directions, but still failed. It was not until we had more information (seeing it more completely put together) that we realized our mistake. Then we corrected it. Often when we come to Paul’s declaration of sowing what you reap, we fail to understand the full nature of God’s grace. It is true that we sometimes make very poor choices and reap the consequences of those choices. However, they are never final in this life. God always gives us a chance to take a few steps and “see it put together” so that we may do it right. What have you chosen in your life that didn’t turn out well? Accept the grace of God… take it apart and get it right! Don’t grow weary of doing good!