You Reap What You Sow

The universe is governed by laws, and so are our lives and relationships. An overarching principle applies to them all: cause and effect. If you obey the laws, there are automatic good results. If you disobey, there are automatic bad results.

Physics has been called the most fundamental of all sciences because many observable facts in biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering and many other fields can be explained using physical laws.

The aim of physics is to understand how nature works. Historically, the first successful theory of universal scope was Newtonian mechanics, which explained how forces cause objects to change their motion.

Action and reaction: the truth about consequences

But there is a law that was well-known even before Isaac Newton. It is a natural law that has been observed by many different cultures. It’s a fundamental aspect of the lives we live.

Newton described one aspect of this in what is probably the most well-known of his three laws of motion, the third law. It states that for any action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The Bible puts this principle in agricultural terms of sowing and reaping—planting and harvesting. But the message is that when we act or behave, there is a consequence that follows, and it will directly affect us.

It’s all about cause and effect.

Man has put so much effort into trying to find ways to break God’s law—to sin—yet avoid the penalty. But you cannot cheat God’s laws and get away with it. Most people do not understand this. They want to break God’s laws and then use some means—such as a drug or a medicine or some invention of science—to avoid the penalty. They are trying to do away with the consequences of sin. They cannot accomplish it, and they never will. The consequences of sin can be delayed, but they will eventually come back on the sinner.

The Christian life is not one of making excuses. We must live up to the decisions we’ve made. We have to own our actions, whether they are good or bad. If they are bad, we must repent and change.

Our actions affect others

Our actions have an effect not only on us, but also on others. For example, if you smoke for years, you will not only damage your own health, but you will harm others around you in the process. If you have kids, you not only endanger them with secondhand smoke, but you hurt them by your actions, teaching them it’s okay to do something that is damaging to yourself and others.

King David made a wrong choice with Bathsheba. David wasn’t the only one who was affected by his sin; consider what happened to Uriah and to the child born out of David’s sin. No matter what we do, someone sees us. We have to be doing what is right.

True followers of Christ have been called by God to be separate and to behave differently than the world around us acts. We are not by ourselves. At baptism God gives His Spirit to dwell in us. We are supposed to be using it to live God’s way of life—a way that is not selfish and that puts all of our needs into the hands of God. We have been given so much; we cannot let that go to waste.

We must be doing what is right. “Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). Are our choices based on worldly values or godly ones?

Sin, repentance and change

There are consequences of pain and suffering for wrong decisions we make. When we fall short of perfection, we plant that sorrow. Our past sins and guilt can be pardoned by the death of Jesus Christ. Then we can be saved by His life, by following His example and seeking His help. Christ makes intercession for us when we repent. We must be changing!

“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:5-6). This is talking about repentance. True repentance involves a deep look at ourselves, not liking what we see and taking steps to change. It is not pleasant, but the result is positive change.

Repentance means change. When we repent and seek God’s help to put on righteousness, we can be truly filled with joy.

The consequences of sin and going against God are far from pleasant. If we plant sin, we will harvest consequences of sorrow—and eventually death. That’s the way it works.

But if we repent, change and seek to obey the good and beneficial laws God created, we will harvest the blessings God wants to give us.

Johnathan Armstrong attends the Little Rock, Arkansas, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and is a graduate student working on his doctorate in physics.

For more on God’s laws, repentance and cause and effect, see:

• The Ten Commandments for Today
• What Is Repentance?
• Levels of Learning: Growing in God’s Truth