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 (Gal.6:7-8)

There are a few basic principles repeated throughout scripture that would profoundly change lives if we would truly believe God’s word. The scripture above is one of those. It is essentially about decision-making and outcomes. We make hundreds of decisions each day and many produce long-term consequences. Those decisions can touch a number of areas in our lives.   Some of those decisions might be encompassed in the following questions: How will I spend my time? How will I spend my money? How will I treat my relationships? Will I follow biblical principles or go my own way? Will I stay in a sinful relationship or will I get out? Who will I yoke myself to in relationships or business agreements? Will I take personal responsibility for my failures or blame others?

The list goes on but ultimately all of my decisions boil down to one question: Will I do it God’s way or will I do it my way? Paul phrases that question in terms of being led by the flesh (the natural, worldly nature) or the Spirit (the redeemed part of me that heeds God). The tendency of the immature in Christ is to give in to the promptings of the flesh and then hope for good outcomes. The law off sowing and reaping, however, is about as certain as the law of gravity. You might violate the law and escape harsh consequences by the grace of God on rare occasions but most of the time you will absolutely harvest what you planted.

Paul begins his statement regarding this “law” by saying, “Do not be deceived.” Satan’s greatest snare is the notion that we will be the exception and that God’s clear word will not apply to us. Remember his deceptive language in the garden” “You will not surely die.” But Adam and Eve surely did. They immediately became subject to physical death and immediately experienced separation from God in the spiritual sense. They were deceived and so are many believers. The enemy spends a great deal of time subtly suggesting that we can give into the promptings of our flesh without consequence while he also suggests that doing it God’s way will not answer the needs of our life.

But Paul says that such belief is deception and confirms that with the statement that God cannot be mocked. That word means to ridicule, to make fun of, to demean, to diminish or to not take seriously. To disregard this principle is to not take God at his word. It is to live as if God is a permissive parent who threatens consequences but never follows through. In reality, God doesn’t even have to be part of the process. He simply tells us the inevitable outcomes of certain behaviors. A good parent tells a child that if he jumps off the roof or sticks his finger in a fan pain will be the result. The parent does not cause the pain. He or she simply is telling the child the natural or spiritual outcomes of his actions.

Ultimately, the law of sowing and reaping says that whenever you decide to do something God’s way, there will be a life-giving outcome and many decisions that are Spirit-led will create a harvest or an accumulation of positive, life-giving outcomes. When we choose to ignore God’s word and warnings and do it our way then we begin to accumulate destructive outcomes. Paul suggests that this law is as certain as the law of gravity and we should not think we will escape bad decisions (especially a series of bad decisions) without consequence.

If we truly believed this basic law of the spiritual realm, we would make better decisions and create a life built on better outcomes. Negative consequences are intended to be God’s great teachers. But Satan always has another trick up his sleeve. When we have made our decisions and experience the hurtful outcomes, Satan follows up with the accusation that God did that to us so he doesn’t love us and isn’t fair. When we entertain that demonic thought, instead of learning our lesson and making better, godlier decisions in the future we stomp off angry with God because he didn’t suspend this spiritual law for us. We act like children who jumped off the roof and are mad at out parents because it hurt when we hit the ground.

We really need to take God at his word and make our daily decisions based on the consequences that God has promised. Do it his way – good outcomes. Do it our way – hard times. If you want life to work out, quit giving in to the flesh and start trusting the way of the Spirit. Truly believing this one principle would redeem a multitude of broken lives.