Justice. We all desire it. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” we trumpet. We don’t like it when someone ‘gets away with murder.’ “Life is unfair!” we scream when some type of injustice infringes upon our lives.
We cheer for the underdog because, at some level, we believe if the underdog wins, fairness has triumphed. Then the underdog loses. How is that fair?
But what if the underdog deserved to lose? How much of the unfairness and injustice of life thrusts itself upon a person because he deserves it? Likewise, how much of the unfairness and injustice of life can a man escape if he lives his life differently, making other choices?
What goes around comes around is more than a Justin Timberlake song. It’s a Biblical truth found in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
So we have THE higher Power involved here. This is more than simple karma. God Himself is laying down an irrefutable life rule. Galatians 6:8 expands on the concept a bit: “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.”
What do we humans sow the most? Those things we desire the most. If I desire to reap more power for myself, I must diligently sow practices that gain me more power. If I desire most in life to lose myself in drunkenness, I must work at sowing ways to gain more drunkenness.
But to what end? Corruption. The Greek idea of this word conveys more than corruption used in a ‘one-moment’ way, like a file on your computer becoming corrupted. It’s a word used to describe a rotting away or decay until eventual destruction emerges.
If I consume my time and energy in gaining more power, what will I reap? Along with the power, I will gain a sense of emptiness, realizing the power is only temporal, never capable of accompanying me into the next life. I’ll gaze at my backtrail and see only lost opportunities in dozens of ways.
Every sowing leads to either reaping a hard yoke or an easy yoke. If I sow a life of drunkenness or drug addiction, I’m obviously reaping a hard yoke which will always enslave me.
What does an easy yoke look like? When I came to Christ as my Savior, an easy yoke was one of the promises He made to me along with every Believer. It’s not a promise of wiping away every problem in my life by sweeping me away to a palace high in the Rocky Mountains where servants will provide my every whim until I resemble a Hampshire hog wearing Harry Potter glasses.
It’s more along the lines of what Paul speaks of in Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
If we sow our praying according to these directions into our lives, God promises to fill us with His peace. Does that help create an easy yoke, or what!
Later on in Philippians, the Scripture reads thusly: “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and having need.” (Philippians 4:11-12)
Complete contentment in every circumstance of a Believer’s life. Wow! That’s definitely an easy yoke rather than a heavy yoke!
All over Henderson County, people will decide against allowing Christ to be their Savior. Instead, they will cling to the sowing of a life burdened with the heavy yoke of self-centeredness at all costs. What peace they would know if they would sow a life centered upon Him.