“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). We have to be on guard against being deceived by another person, but self-deception is by far the worst kind of deception. Because when we deceive ourselves, it usually takes some kind of a shock to wake us up from the lies we have been telling ourselves. It is hard for us to be honest with ourselves once we have started down that road of self-deception.
Some people fall into the self-deception trap by thinking that there is no God, but the Bible calls them a fool, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1). Then there are those who believe in God, but do not think that He knows about the evil they are doing, they really believe that they can fool God. When Herod got to thinking that he was a god, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms (Acts 12:21-23). When Ananias and his wife Sapphira tried to fool God, it cost them their lives (Acts 5:1-10). Self-deception is extremely dangerous, both physically and spiritually.
Another area in which we deceive ourselves is in our material possessions. We put too much importance in our “homes, cars, land, things, goodies, toys.” I really don’t know anyone who is not guilty of this. The psalmist tells us that the rich and the poor are all alike, no person can buy their way into eternal life and that no person will take anything with them when they die, and that a rich man without spiritual understanding is like an animal that perishes (Psalm 49:1-20). Paul wrote, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
It is a law of nature that we reap what we sow; any person that has ever planted a seed into the ground knows that you can’t plant watermelons and reap a harvest of asparagus. We see this natural law in operation all around us. And if anyone tried to convince us otherwise we would not fall for the lie. The Bible tells us that those who plant evil and those who sow trouble will reap evil and trouble (Job 4:8). And those that sow the wind will reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). A person can’t sow evil actions and reap a harvest of good; it is against the spiritual laws of God. Mocking God by living an immoral lifestyle is walking on dangerous ground.
The human mind is a lot like a fertile field, whatever we sow into our mind will grow into godly thoughts and actions, or evil and ungodly thoughts and actions. Our mind is very similar to a computer, it can be programmed to do things that glorify God or it can be programmed to follow the ways of this evil world and Satan. We are constantly planting things into our minds and programming it daily by the things we say, think, read, watch, and listen to. Not only do we plant good or evil seeds into our own minds, but by our words and actions we also plant good or evil seeds into the minds of people we associate with, especially our family and friends. I know more than one parent that wishes he/she could take back words or actions that were said or done around their children. We carelessly put so much garbage into our minds every day, not even thinking about the problems it can cause us days, weeks, months or even years later.
Almost everyone knows that there are many laws of the universe and nature, and if we violate these laws of the universe and nature, we usually end up causing problems for ourselves and others. Most professional pilots know how dangerous it can be if we violate the laws of aerodynamics. But we sometimes forget that God also has Spiritual laws that are in operation in the universe. And if we violate the Spiritual laws of God we can suffer both physically and spiritually. “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil…but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good” (Romans 2:9-10).
It is important that we observe the Spiritual laws as well as the natural laws. We may not understand all of the aspects of the natural laws, but we do know something of how they work and are able to use them for the good of mankind. And yet, we are prone to sometimes reject the Spiritual laws because we don’t understand totally how they operate or work. Just as we can make the natural laws of the universe work for us, we can also make the Spiritual laws work for us.
Church attendance, Bible study, prayer, giving to support the church and missionary work, feeding and clothing the poor and needy, fellowshipping with other Christians, communion, baptism, are all a part of God’s Spiritual laws. And when we live our lives based upon God’s spiritual laws, we can know that He is going to take care of us. Solomon wrote, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done” (Proverbs 19:17).
We are starting a New Year, and not only do we need to make sure we are physically fit to fly our planes and helicopters, but we need to be spiritually mature enough to stand up against the evils that Satan and this world can throw at us. All household leaders should do their best to make sure their family is fed with spiritual food so they can grow spiritually (cf. Deuteronomy 4:9). Peter wrote, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever!” (1 Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 3:18).