In this bizarre and gruesome account in Judges 1, we get a slightly horrifying reminder that we reap what we sow. Lets begin with the story and a reminder of a principle scripture makes clear.
- Judges 1:5-7 (VOICE) So Judah and her ally went up to fight against Adoni-bezek at the town of Bezek, and the Eternal gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed 10,000 of them at Bezek; and although Adoni-bezek tried to escape, they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes, which rendered him useless for basically anything. Adoni-bezek: In my time, I cut the thumbs and toes off 70 kings and left them to scramble for scraps under my table. And now God has done the same to me. They carried him away to Jerusalem, where he died.
- Galatians 6:7 (NLT) Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
So as I said, this story is a sobering reminder to be mindful what we sow. Because we’ve been given the gift of grace, many believers seem to think that also includes getting a pass on consequences or that we can behave one way and reap a response as if we’ve behaved another way, but that simply isn’t the case.
The principle to take away here is: sow with intention.
This principle is very simple. If you sow bitterness and anger, don’t expect to reap grace and understanding. If you sow in judgment, don’t expect to reap in love. Some may call this karma, but this is a principle straight out of scripture, and one we’d be wise to heed.
So I encourage you to be intentional with what you sow. Sow love. Sow grace. Sow understand. Sow mercy. Sow forgiveness. Sow liberally and sow lavishly, and do so with joy. Then see what a beautiful harvest you reap!
P.S. I can’t help but note this is connected to both the Dyed4you Art piece I released last week called Harvest Joy (which is about being patient and steadfast as you await your promised harvest) and the Prophetic Nugget from last Friday called Harvest of Love, which was connected to our Assume Positive Intent (Joshua 22) post, which is really about sowing grace and understanding. 🙂
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