Galatians 6:7 – “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
In 1654, a German
author name Friederich von Logau wrote something in German that Longfellow
years later translated thus:
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he all.
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he all.
In 1875, an
African-American Representative said in a speech before the House, “The mills of the gods grind slowly, but
surely and exceeding fine.” The same
passage in one form or another has been quoted in various arenas, from the
General Assembly of the United Nations to the starchy chambers of the British
Parliament to the hallowed halls of academia to the pen of the great heart
surgeon, Christian Barnard. Though, in
all its telling – in all its quoting – in all its bandying about, the meaning
is truly lost on a sinful, lost and dying world.
What the worldly
wise who throw the quotation about fail to see
is the truth of the statement – that no sinful soul can escape. In other words,
the Mills of God grind slowly but surely. Heaven’s retribution is slow but
sure. The law of sowing and reaping is a
biblical principle that cannot be escaped.
Every man and every woman, every boy and every girl, was born in sin and
has a responsibility to God to pay for that sin. But man, because of his sin, can never pay
the debt that is owed. Sure, “The wages
of sin is death (Rom 6:23),” but man can never fully pay those wages. Even when death comes, the debt is still
there. Only the sinless, perfect Son of
God could pay enough to expiate the debt.
And He did. He died for all
mankind on Calvary ’s cross. And unless a man accepts the sacrifice, turns
from his sin, and acknowledges Christ as his Lord and Saviour, he will die in
his sin and be lost for eternity. But if
he does accept Christ, the debt is paid and his responsibility to God is
forever settled.
The Mills Of God
Nothing is hid from the eyes of the Lord –
Every dark secret He sees.
He’ll cut to the chase with His mighty sword,
For sin is a dreadful disease.
The sins which we desperately cover to hide
To God are in open display,
And we go about with hearts full of pride,
Rejoicing in our wicked way.
But God up above has a different design,
As we glibly go on our way.
With fierceness of wrath and justice divine,
He’ll pour out His judgment one day.
The mills of our God so slowly may grind –
From one truth we can’t get away –
For they grind so surely and always unkind
For all who in wickedness play.
© 2006 Paul Stultz
"Lord, Teach us to respect the laws you have set in motion in our lives. One of those laws we see every day is the law of sowing and reaping. Help us to see that it is always at work. Amen."
