It's the same with Spiritual Laws, the only difference is that the effects of trying to break spiritual laws are not quite so immediate as with the law of gravity. Consider what Jesus tells us in John 8:34. He says “He who sins is the slave of sin.” For verification you have only to look to those (or perhaps even yourself) who are trapped in addictions. Secular versions of this not wanting to admit that some things are wrong, will talk about “poor choices having consequences.” But it goes much further than this. The fact of the matter is that when we make such “poor choices” we develop appetites that demand to be satisfied, and we become slaves to these appetites. This is what Paul means when he says of some, that their appetites are their god (Philippians 3:9 NASB). Though it includes our appetites for food it has a much wider application to our appetites for many things. Of course they don't literally worship their appetites, but the point is that they obey their appetites rather than God. When their appetites say jump, they jump! Self control is a virtue and the opposite lack of self control is a sin to which we far too easily become enslaved.
The spiritual law to which the title of this post alludes is the law of sowing and reaping. The verse that alludes to this principle (law) reads “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” (Galatians 6:7,8). Let's unpack this.
The Bible tells us not to be deceived, many are. How many trapped in addiction to alcohol somehow or other think that they will one day be able to control their habit. The Bible talks about the deceitfulness of sin, of how when we allow our appetites to rule our lives we get hardened to them, and then finish up in denial or in making excuses. So don't be deceived, God cannot be duped, He has set this law of sowing and reaping into effect and it cannot be broken. Indeed if we try to break it, as with the law of gravity it will break us. One person put it this way, if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you always got. We know full well that if we plant carrots we will not get turnip, what on earth leads us to think things will get better if we keep doing what we have always done? Into all of this the Bible tells us “do not be deceived.” As I said above, many are!
And one of the ways that we deceive ourselves is to play the blame game. How many alcoholics blame others for their drinking “It's your fault, if you hadn't …..” In fact the blame game is as old as Adam and Eve themselves. When God asks Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden fruit, his reply starts with “The woman You gave me ..” (Genesis 3:12). In other words it's the woman's fault, and in fact it's Your fault too God, You are the one who gave her to me! But we have to stop blaming others for everything that goes wrong. A lot of the mess we are in is because of the bad choices we made. Bad choices produce bad fruit, and we are responsible for the choices we make. Our choices to do what God says is wrong, have consequences, and if we chose to go against what He says we will reap the consequences. God's ways are best. When He says no, it is not for no reason, it is for our provision and protection. God's ways are not only good and right and proper, they are smart!
This law of sowing and reaping works both negatively and positively When we sow the positive we will reap good fruit. In fact Jesus tells us that with the same measure that we give, it will be measured back to us. If we sow generously and positively we will receive “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38). This “multiplication effect” is in fact contained within the analogy. If you plant one potato you don't just get one potato back, you get lots. Of course as in the natural, this is not immediate like the law of gravity. It takes time to produce fruit. But assuredly the negative things we sow will eventually come bouncing back in abundance to haunt us, and the positive things to fully bless us. And when we continue to sow, the consequences both positive and negative just keep growing and growing and growing. I blogged earlier about “Do you want to be made whole,” and suggested that most of us don't change until the pain of getting stuck becomes grater than the pain and fear of change. In my own experience I know that I had to come to the place where I was sick of my sin, sick of my own negativity, sick of reaping what I finally had to admit was at least in part due to what I had sown. How about you? “Are we there yet mummy?”
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