No one makes a fool of God

Galatians 6:7 (GN)

Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God.  You will reap exactly what you plant. 

Galatians 6:7-8 describes the sow and reap principle.  People always reap what they sow.  It may take time, but eventually you are rewarded for the good that you do and penalized or suffer for the bad that you do.  When I first became a Christian in 1974, and first heard about this principle, the Godfather movies were popular.  Indeed, those movies exemplified the sowing and reaping principle.  Basically, if you killed others and had no regard for life, you eventually got killed yourself or lived a miserable life.  Anyone who plants evil, eventually pays for that evil.  This verse says that you reap exactly what you plant.   

The principle of sowing and reaping is true in every realm of life. You sow bad habits, what do you reap?  Good character?  No!  You sow laziness, you reap poverty and weakness.  You sow gossip, you reap loss of respect.  You sow neglect of salvation, you reap a life in hell.  People will always believe that there are exceptions to this principle and perhaps think that they have examples to prove exceptions (e.g. evil people that appear to prosper), but they are deceiving themselves.  God is not mocked, no one can make a fool of Him.  His moral and ethical laws dictate that whatever you sow, that you shall also reap.

In the context of spiritual growth, the sow and reap principle definitely is true.  If you don’t do anything to enable you to grow spiritually, indeed nothing will happen.  No one else can help you if you are unwilling to help yourself.  However, if you sow desire and action to grow as a Christian, indeed, growth will occur.  You may not see it readily, but you must have faith that God is working this principle out in you. 

This verse correlates with II Corinthians 9:6-7.  You sow sparingly, you’ll reap sparingly.  You sow bountifully, you’ll reap bountifully.  This applies to all aspects of life.  Think of how you spend your money, how you use your time and how you consume your energy.  In all three of these main forces of life, whatever you sow, that you shall also reap.  You give away more money, the more money or other form of blessings God will give back to you.  You give away more of your time and energy helping others, the more God will bless you and make your time on earth filled with blessings. 

The sowing and reaping principle is very basic, so basic that we ignore it or don’t believe it.  May you have a different perspective on sowing and reaping after thinking through and praying over these verses.      

“You reap what you sow: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.” –Grant M. Bright