Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7
My grandparents had a farm in heartland of Missouri. I learned how to gather eggs, clean stalls in barns, bale hay, and even milk cows. My heritage taught me that “hard work will produce a good harvestâ€! It was a basic fact that the most fertile ground will produce nothing unless seed is sown into it.
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.†John 3:5
Jesus was answering questions from a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who wanted to know how to get eternal life. A Pharisee was a leader, someone who was to be the example to the Jewish people, leading them in living a ‘holy life’ that would guarantee them that they would live eternally … in the bosom of Abraham. (Luke 16:22) Nicodemus was about legalism. Legalism does not need God. Legalism is about me. It is about my opinion of how I should live before God and whether I think you are living up to my standards! I set the boundaries of fellowship and decide who is allowed inside of those boundaries and even the state of their salvation. Those who ascribe to a legalistic approach to faith are encouraged to “just follow the company policyâ€. They are not encouraged to think for themselves but to just conform to what has always been.
[Jesus said,] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.â€
John 3:16-17
Salvation is not something that can come from human plans or human strength. It is God’s business. Salvation comes forth from the seeds that God’s Spirit sows into each one of us. Grace, God’s un-countable love, was God’s idea and came to us at His expense. Why would God give His salvation to us instead of sticking with a very long list of “do’s†and “don’t’s†that we couldn’t live?
BECAUSE HE LOVES US!!!
EVERYONE who believes in Him – gets salvation. Period. That’s it. No code. No ritual. God made my heart. God knows my heart. God sows into my heart. Like Nicodemus, I given the life-giving words from Jesus and I have the opportunity to be a part of a bountiful harvest.
He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John 19:39-42
God’s grace has no boundaries. He will bring me full circle in His kingdom. God will sow into me. And then He will show me how to sow into others.
