God as our Heavenly Father lovingly created us in His own image so that we as His children might enjoy Him in a mutual relationship of unbroken love, joy, blessedness and peace. But God wanted us to be more than just selfish pet-like creatures who only cling to Him for food and attention without truly returning His great love for us. So He also gave us the genuine but extremely dangerous power of choice: the freedom to choose whether to be in voluntary, loving relationship with Him or not.
Unfortunately for us, our first ancestors Adam and Eve chose to break this perfect relationship with God in a reckless decision to find out for themselves what it would be like to be their own gods. Although they never expected it, their rash decision to flatly disobey God in untethered pursuit of forbidden knowledge and god-like control over their own lives separated them from God and brought down upon them and the rest of the human race the curses of sin, violence, suffering and death.
When murder later erupted within the first family and Cain killed his brother Abel, their parents Adam and Eve were rocked by the bitter reality that while one may have the God-given power of choice, one does not have the power to choose his own consequences. Like it or not, we live in an utterly moral universe that is under the strict, unrelenting governance of God and His Law.
In this universe, moral neutrality is impossible and all of life’s significant choices have moral consequences that flow from them and profoundly affect us, those around us, and even future generations whether we want them to or not. Our power of choice is not inhibited by this reality, but our choices once made must bear fruit in perfect cause-and-effect relationship with the manner in which the power was exercised.
The power of choice is like a person handling and firing a loaded gun. The shooter is free to point and fire the gun in any direction he wishes, but the laws of physics will not be cancelled for any stupid, foolish or mistaken choices the shooter makes. Each time the gun is fired, the bullet will roar from the barrel, follow its chosen course, and cause whatever destruction it may regardless of whether the shooter later regrets firing as he did. The shooter cannot “un-fire” the gun, but must live with the full consequences of each shot.
In God’s moral universe, His Law is always in full force and effect. Even so, one remains perfectly free to choose (albeit unwittingly most of the time) what he believes (his worldview), what he becomes (his character) and where he goes (his destiny). But all of one’s moral choices in these areas result in real outcomes whether he realizes it or not. Even choosing not to choose through apathy, indifference or neglect is a blind choice that brings about negative and often painful long-term consequences later.
In the business of life, the immutable agricultural principles of sowing and reaping apply. Sowing the seeds of individual moral choices no matter how seemingly small and inconsequential always yields a greater and longer lasting harvest of similar results later. This means that sowing thoughts results in a harvest of similar acts; sowing acts results in a harvest of similar habits; sowing habits results in a harvest of similar character traits; and sowing character traits results in a great final harvest of one’s chosen identity and destiny.
Galatians 6:7-8 from the Bible puts it this way: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
“Sowing to the flesh” means indulging one’s own selfish natural impulses, recklessly violating God’s Law, living in darkness and depravity, and suffering judgment for it. “Sowing to the Spirit,” however, means taking God’s righteousness and holiness seriously and with the help of the Holy Spirit obeying God’s Law, living a life that is pleasing to Him and being rewarded for it unto eternal salvation.
You can choose to sow whatever kind of seed you wish, but you cannot later avoid reaping a greater harvest of the same kind as the seed that was sown. What kind of seed are you sowing in the world, and what kind of harvest do you expect to reap?
Do You Want to Be Made Well? 