Proverbs 14:14 - You Reap What You Sow.

Proverbs 14:14: You Reap What You Sow. 

CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word 
Study:  

Prov 14:14 (KJV)  The backslider in heart shall be filled with 
his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself. 

Prov 14:14 (NKJV)  The backslider in heart will be filled with 
his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above. 

Prov 14:14 (TEV)  Bad people will get what they deserve.  Good 
people will be rewarded for their deeds. 

The "backslider," i.e., "the one turned away in heart" from God, 
finds his pleasure in going his own way (cf. v. 12) regardless of 
ethical considerations. [Believer's SB] 

CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:

The Proverbs of Solomon  (10:1-22:16)
The major collection attributed to Solomon  (10:1-22:16)
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked

CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.

Galatians 6:8 (KJV)  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of 
the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of 
the Spirit reap life everlasting.  

Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV)  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide 
is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and 
many there be which go in thereat: [14] Because strait is the gate, 
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be 
that find it.  

Gal 6:7 (KJV)  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?

One of the significant contrasts between the two ways of Matthew 
7:13 and 14 is that the broad way is "easy" and the narrow way is 
"hard." 
"Easy." That is a nice word, a pleasant word. I wonder what it 
means. 
I remember a few years ago when I was backpacking in the Wind 
River Range of the Wyoming Rockies. I had struggled all day up an 
extremely steep trail and had finally reached a plateau that ran parallel 
to Lizardhead Peak. I was dead tired. Carrying my 65-pound pack the 
next seven or eight miles to the next valley seemed almost more than 
I could bear. 
At that point I met another hiker, who told me of a shortcut 
that would save me several hours. It was much "easier." The so-called 
shortcut may have been shorter, but it was not easier. I struggled for a 
day and a half over terrain that I didn't think could be crossed 
with a full pack. 
The moral: Things aren't always what they seem. The easy way is 
sometimes the hard way in the end. 
That's the way it is for many on the broad way. Hangovers, AIDS, 
and a host of other diseases that stem from life on the fast track 
make life more difficult than it would have been had they been more 
temperate. 
But let's face it. Many people on the broad way don't face those 
difficulties. Their lives are moderate and even moral, in the secular sense of 
the term. Their way really does seem easy. They are just doing what 
comes naturally. 
But that is where the other great contrast of the two ways comes 
in. The broad way, Jesus tells us, leads to destruction, while the 
narrow way leads to life. And once again, there are no alternatives. 
Everyone will someday either go to their heavenly reward or be eternally 
destroyed. 
Each of us has a choice in this matter. Would we rather have it 
easy now and hard later, or hard now and easy later? [Walking With 
Jesus By Knight re Mat.7:13, 14] 

In A Slow and Certain Light, Elizabeth Elliot writes: "Two young 
Americans with high adventure in their hearts arrived in the city of 
Quito, Ecuador, on their way to the 'Great Amazon Rain Forest' east of 
the Andes. They were going on a six-week trek and planned to write a 
book about their experiences.... They had been to an army surplus 
store before they left home and bought everything the salesman told 
them they would need.... What more could they want? There was, it 
occurred to them when they reached Quito, one thing - the language - and 
when they learned that a jungle missionary was in town, they came to 
see me.... 'Just give us a few phrases,' they said.... They 
described their equipment to me with great pride, and I could see that it 
was not going to be of much use. I wanted to tell them that what 
they ought to have was a guide...." "Sometimes we come to God as the 
two adventurers came to me - confident and, we think, well-informed 
and well equipped. But it has occurred to us that with all our 
accumulation of stuff something is missing.... What we really ought to have 
is the Guide himself." [God's Little Devotional Bible re 
Pro.14:12] 

The natural inclination in Christian living is to act on the 
impulse of a good idea. Not every good idea is from God. Sometimes good 
ideas get in the way of God ideas.  
Where does your inspiration come from? The vision of the 
transfigured Christ inspired Peter: "O Lord, it is good for us to be here. If 
you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses 
and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). Our natural impulse is to do 
something good for God and suggest it to Him.  
The tendency of the well-meaning person is to prepare a plan to 
do some good idea, and then pray, "Jesus, this is my plan. It is a 
good plan. It hurts no one, and I want it to please You. Lord, please 
bless my plan." It is plan, then pray.  
So many of our ideas are impetuous. They are not what the Lord 
wants to do. They do not resemble in any way the things which concern 
Him. We have good ideas, but they are not God ideas. His agenda and 
our agenda conflict. We want to build Him a shelter but that is not 
what He wants.... When Peter, James, and John heard the voice of the 
Lord . . . they abandoned their inventive-but-self-made idea. The 
presence of the Lord magnified, and His holiness brought them to their 
senses. Jesus gained their attention, not by subduing them with a stern 
scolding, but by magnifying His presence until all the genius of their 
human ideas was bleached out by His refulgent face. 
When they abandoned their good idea and fell facedown before the 
Lord, He could work with them again.... 
When you and I abandon our good idea and fall to our face before 
me Lord, then He will come and touch us, too. When we pursue our 
own plan He cannot use us. We must abandon our good idea and fall 
facedown before Him. Then He will be able to use us again. Then He will 
reveal what He is doing - a God idea.... It is pray, then plan. Through 
prayer, Jesus instructs of His plan, a God idea. 
Prayer removes the impulse of the good idea, the good idea born 
of human ingenuity but not of God. Pray, then plan. It is the habit 
of the surrendered saint. (Walking with Christ in the Details of 
Life by Patrick M. Morley) [Inspirational SB re Mat.13:12]