Sowing and Reaping

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

SOWING AND REAPING

 Gal 6:6-10

6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

NIV

Paul has said this in a more direct manner in his letter to the Corinthians. The fact is that those who preach the gospel should make their living from the gospel. It is appropriate for those who serve as ministers should receive proper income to support themselves and not have to live in poverty. Certainly in our modern society, some have abused that concept and taken advantage of believers using them to live in great abundance. But the average pastors of local churches who feed their people on a daily basis the spirit food from the gospel, need to receive their daily food from the people of God. Paul goes on, getting close to his concluding remarks makes sure they understand the difference between how they act determines how they live and what they receive in return. If we live according to our sinful nature we will receive death. IF we live according to the Spirit we will reap eternal life. Again, we should note that living according to the sinful nature is lifestyle or living continuing to sin repeatedly without any regard for God. This type of person refuses the truth of the Gospel altogether. They might even comment they are religious, but they are not believers, followers of Jesus Christ. They simply sin religiously. That is completely different from a true believer in Jesus failing to live a perfect life, and thus yielding to temptation on occasions. They desire not to sin, but rather desire to do that which is right but simply cannot follow through with their desire not to sin. We sow to please the Spirit and we have been assured our destiny is eternal life in heaven with our Lord. So we do not grow weary of doing good or living for the Spirit. If we were to live in comparison to other people, then there are many who live far more abundantly then we do, but there are far more in the world who live with far less than we do. Wealth and poverty are not the measure of life in the Spirit, but rather a measurement of life in the world. Our task is not to seek after or sow for the things of this world but to seek after, to sow for things of the Spirit. This implies as Paul gives this instruction, that we do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. This goes right back to doing no harm to them, to love them as we love ourselves. So those rumors, those words of gossip, which destroy are not doing good to others, and especially are not doing good to the one who speaks them. We must never grow weary of doing good. We must always be aware of the feelings of others, and use words to encourage, to build up, rather than tear down. For surely what we sow we will reap.