A CROP OF RAGWEED

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A CROP OF RAGWEED
by Philip Owen

Spring has finally arrived, at least in some measure, in Central Illinois. I was so happy when I was finally able to get out last week and begin planting some ragweed. I’m really looking forward to the crop of corn I expect it to produce this fall.

A few of the kindest of you may smile at the paragraph above. But the majority are probably grimacing in disgust at such stupid statements. They weren’t really funny, or clever. But they do illustrate from the natural world the way many people, even believers, view the spiritual world, namely, that we can sin without consequence. Yet, we are more likely to get a good crop of corn from a planting of ragweed than we are to get any good out of sin. Whether we feel ourselves to be the exception to the rule, whether we disbelieve the Word, whether we describe our sin as something else, or whether we mistake the length of time between sowing and harvest (i.e., the longsuffering of God) to indicate that there is no price for sin, the Bible is clear on the subject. Sin always exacts a price. The price is absolute. The price is expensive.

James makes this observation: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (1:14, 15). Had James been given no additional words of inspiration from the Spirit of God, we would still be forever in his debt for providing this salient truth. God has warned us that we do not and we cannot get away with sin. We may escape temporal justice. We may not be able to link a specific harvest to a specific sowing. But if we sow, we will surely reap. Sin is a hardy crop: it always produces fruit. Sin has never known a crop failure. We may plant the seed of sin and go about our business in other areas; we may cease tending the garden of sin. But bye and bye the fruit bursts forth. And like it or not, we are forced into slavery to harvest the crop we have sown.

But whereas the harvesting of a good crop is beneficial, the harvesting of the crop of sin is baneful: “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Ultimately, for the sinner, that “death” is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. But when a believer sins, the result is that something dies as well. In severe cases, sin may result in physical death, as God takes a dishonorable son out of the world in order to prevent further sin and the inevitable harm that follows (cf., I Cor. 5:1-8). Physical death may not follow in every case (though, apart from the rapture, we will all die as a consequence of sin); regardless, something will die. Surely, sin kills the approbation and blessing of God; it may snuff out some potential blessing; it may strangle an opportunity to serve; it may murder a relationship. It always murders the peace and joy of the Lord. Sin, and something dies.

We tend to be blind and foolish optimists. But if we think that we will get away with sin, we are sadly deceived. In fact Paul makes precisely that point: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). This spiritual reality is more certain than any natural law. Sin always exacts a price. The price is absolute. The price is expensive. Let us flee sin because “he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.”

On the other hand, there is also a blessed reaping for righteous sowing: “but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 5:8, 9). Knowing, then, that there is a reaping for all sowing, let us sow the seed of righteousness that we may reap the fruit of blessing.

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A CROP OF RAGWEED by Philip Owen

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A CROP OF RAGWEED
by Philip Owen