Thought for the Day

Those who try to trap or hurt others will find themselves entrapped and hurt by their own devices. This is based on the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. As we have seen in previous studies, the Bible teaches that we reap the same kinds of things that we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). In the natural, if we plant a tomato seed, we will have a tomato plant, not a thistle. Good seed produces beneficial plants; bad seed produces harmful plants. This particular principal appears in different forms throughout the Bible, starting in Genesis, where we find the law that everything produces fruit after its kind (Genesis 1:11,29).

In the beginning, everything God created for man was blessed and good. However, when Adam and Eve sinned, the earth came under a curse, and now the ground would also produce things that brought pain to mankind. "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field" (Genesis 3:17-18).

After God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, man was given the responsibility to choose good or evil. He still holds this responsibility in the natural and spiritual realm. As Adam was given the choice between life through obedience and death through disobedience, so are we. We now choose which law we submit to - the law of life in Christ, or the law of sin and death. We are freed from the law of sin and death when we accept Jesus as our Savior (Romans 8:1-2). When we submit to Him and resist the devil, he must flee. He can no longer enforce his case against us; nor has he any authority over us, as Jesus stripped him of his power. However, we must by faith stand in this position of authority.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:7-10). We humble ourselves by confessing our sin with godly sorrow; by turning from it in our actions; by honoring the Lord in obeying His Word. If we sow His Word in prayer, we will in time rejoice, for our prayers will produce a harvest of blessings. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:5-6).