Whether it's an apple seed or a grain of wheat, when a farmer sows seed in his field he expects to reap a harvest of what he so tirelessly planted. It would be other-worldly-strange for a farmer to sow one thing and reap something different altogether. You cannot sow grain and instead of wheat reap darnel. It's unnatural. But isn’t this exactly what's happening in our nation today?  Have we sown change and now reap more corruption?

Look around you, see the nation and tell me what you discover. Are we united or more divided? In Washington, we see forked-tongued leaders utter one thing but their moral character avails them producing the opposite. Whether it was Bush or Obama, as they promised change or unity, their policies reflect something else. Likewise, in the Church we speak of unity and yet we are more divided on issues, we speak of love but we compromise in the name of it. We say we need to pray more so God can save the nation and only a few attend the prayer meeting.

Why is it we sow one thing with our words and reap something completely other? Well, here's the answer, in my church we have this idiom, “What's in you will come out of you.” In other words, it doesn’t matter what comes out of your mouth, because you only manifest what's in your heart. This is the diagnosis of the sowing and reaping dilemma we face on all levels cultural, political, family and church. It's not just what's happening around us, but more so what's in us that determines our harvest.

Christ said it like this, "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:17-20).

I believe change is a good thing and should have good results. Hope comes from God, providing promises for a better tomorrow. However, a wise proverb says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” When we truthfully sow change and hope, guess what our harvest should be? Anything other than that will leave us disappointed and confused. The Bible says, “God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The truth is, you sow with your heart not only with your mouth. One may have good rhetoric while harboring ulterior motives in his heart and still receive a harvest of what's in him.

Christ also said, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:43). So here is darkness discerned:  Purposefully shrouding the true motives of the heart while uttering something else just to sway the hearers. This is called dishonesty, at worst it is deception -- it's what Satan does.

Child of God, don't be deceived by those who promise one thing and do another. Didn’t the Scripture say, “Dear friends, don't believe all people who say they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world” (GOD’s WORD translation). We have to be honest with ourselves and God; stand uncompromisingly for truth and do what’s right in the sight of God.

If we are hoping for change yet reaping more corruption in our nation, it behooves us to examine our own hearts and that of our leaders.  Remember Christ said, “by their fruits you shall know them.” As we turn our hearts back to God we can begin to sow our seed in righteousness.

So how will we see our harvest of change? Our nation needs leaders of integrity who tell the truth out of a pure heart, whether it's popular or not. With such leaders -- who don’t compromise for political gain or any other hidden motive -- we will reap our desired harvest of change and hope. I believe it. Yes, we can!