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"Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Galatians 6:9

There is an old adage, "Sowing wild oats." This is usually interpreted to mean that someone is just experiencing life. There is an old adage, "Boys will be boys", that is often used when a boy is misbehaving and, there is no sense in disciplining them, because boys are suppose to misbehave.

Both adages are usually used to minimize the negative actions that someone is taking.

Weeds.

My Grandfather was a farmer and, as a young boy, I would often accompany him into the fields. My Grandfather would put on his boots, shoulder his shovel, and then head into the fields. As we would walk through the fields of green alfalfa, he would use the shovel to expertly remove thistles that had elected to grow amongst the alfalfa.

In all of my walks with my Grandfather, I never got the impression that my Grandfather had either planted the thistles or that the thistles were a "good thing."

My mother enjoyed planting flowers in the space that bordered our lawn, with these spaces affectionately called her flowerbeds. I remember many occasions where I would be drafted to assist in "pulling" weeds that had grown in around the flowers.

After the weeds had been pulled and placed in the trash can, the flowerbeds would be beautiful. The flowers brightly displayed. In my endeavors to "pull" weeds, my mother would often caution me not to pull any flowers.

In all of my times of pulling weeds, I cannot recall a single occasion where my mother instructed me to uproot the flowers. No, the flowers were to be enjoyed and the weeds were to be pulled.

While my mother was responsible for the flowerbeds, my father was responsible for the lawn. Amongst the greenery of the lawn, I remember often seeing bright yellow flowers sprouting up from the lawn.

While I thought that these bright, yellow flowers added a touch of contrast to the green lawn, after seeing these yellow flowers, my father would go into the shed, mix up a few ingredients, and reappear with a spray bottle in hand.

He would then pay a special visit to each yellow flower and give it a dose of what was in the spray bottle. The next day, the bright yellow flowers would usually be wilted. My father would often add fertilizer to the lawn, in order to encourage the growth of the lawn.

In all of my times watching my father take care of the lawn, I never recall a single occasion where he encouraged the yellow flowers to grow.

Reaping.

Galatians 6:7 instructs:

"For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

I never recall a single occasion where my grandfather, a farmer, expressed joy at reaping a crop of weeds. No, my grandfather only took pride in reaping a crop of alfalfa.

I never recall a single occasion where my mother, a tender of flowers, placed a weed in a flower vase. No, my mother only took pride in reaping flowerbeds that blossomed with beautiful roses.

I never recall a single occasion where my father, the caretaker of the lawn, expressed joy at having a lawn of weeds. No, my father only took pride in reaping a luscious green lawn that was free of weeds.

I’m having fun.

People often equate "sowing wild oats" with having "fun."

I watched my grandfather weed his fields; it was not fun. I helped my mother weed flowerbeds; it was not fun. I watched my father remove weeds from the lawn; it was not fun.

Anyone with any experience in dealing with weeds will usually agree that weeds spread. First, you have one weed and then a second appears, and then a third, until all you see are weeds everywhere.

Weeds multiple.

You decide that you will "sow" just one "wild oat" and that will be the end of your time to have some fun. You "sow" that one "wild oat" and go about your life. While you’re living a good life, that one small "wild oat" doesn’t know that you’re finished; all it knows is that you planted it and it wants to grow and, maybe even encourage some other "wild oats" to join it.

That one small "wild oat" will grow and spread and spread and spread, until you have an entire crop of "wild oats."

Pain of weeds.

In addition to the impact of you having to "reap" the results of sowing "wild oats", there is also the possibility that your "wild oats" will cause someone else to stumble.

While my grandfather did not intentionally sow weeds with this alfalfa crops, a prickly thistle would often appear. As I would walk through the field of alfalfa, I would sometimes unintentionally brush up against a prickly thistle. It was instant pain.

For a moment, consider that you sowed some "wild oats" in your youth. Now, as you have children and they begin their walk through life, will they "brush" up against something in your past that will cause them instant pain?

A tilled field.

My grandfather, the farmer, would prepare his fields for planting by tilling the ground. He would make pass after pass over the field in his tractor, pulling a row of discs. The discs would churn and till the ground, removing the stubble of a prior crop. When my grandfather would finish tilling the field, there would be no greenery, only fresh brown soil ready to accept the seeds.

When we receive salvation from our sins, our lives become as a tilled field; it is ready for planting. God removes the "weeds" from our lives and provides us with the opportunity to plant a life reflecting His goodness. As we indeed reap what we sow, we should exercise caution in what we plant in our lives and what we allow to come into our lives.

Sow the seeds of righteousness.

Copyright 2002 by Bruce Durbin