“What Goes Around Comes Around” is a 2006 hit song for Justin Timberlake about how betrayal was repaid by betrayal. His girl left him for another man who left her for another girl. As the song says “I heard you found out that he's doing to you what you did to me. Ain't that the way it goes.” Of course the phrase was around long before Justin made it into a hit song. And, since it‘s about how our actions come back to impact us, it’s a principle that existed long before that phrase was coined.

The Bible has a different phrase for it: “You reap what you sow” (Galatians 6:7). While that applies to negative consequences, just like in Justin's song, it also includes reaping good things. Galatians made that distinction in verse 8. Usually people who do good things have it returned to them in some unexpected way.

A few days ago we saw how Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law even though they both were homeless, broke, widows (Ruth 1:15-18). While their trip to Bethlehem was only described in one sentence (Ruth 1:19) it must have been difficult and, since they were carrying all their earthly possessions, Ruth would have needed to shoulder most of the load on the road. Plus when they got home Ruth went straight to work gathering grain for their food (Ruth 2:2).

For clarification she wasn't working in their own field, or for wages. Instead she was picking up grain left in the field for the poor under Mosaic Law. Anyway the land owner noticed her, asked about her, and then told her to stay in his fields and share some of his provisions. When she asked why the favor his answer was a lengthy version of “what goes around comes around”. He respected what she had done for Naomi and offered God’s blessings on her (Ruth 2:11-12).

So, let's ask the important question: “What’s coming around for you and me?”