OF SOWING AND REAPING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:7-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You reap what you sow.

Maybe you’ve heard this said a time or two as it’s a very common saying.

One application is associated with finding success in life.

If you put your full effort into something, then you can reasonably expect to get a return on your investment and achieve great things. You sow hard work and reap recognition for your stellar accomplishments.

Conversely, sowing minimum effort and will reap minimum results. Garbage in, garbage out.

Need another application of the “you get what you put in” scenario. We find one in today’s two verse passage as we continue to study from the final chapter of Galatians.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Galatians 6:7-8

Here we find the stakes heightened as sowing and reaping are connected to eternal ramifications.

In this letter from the Apostle Paul to the churches in Galatia, we have found him make reference to “the flesh” on numerous occasions, especially in chapter 5. You’ll recall that the Greek word “sarx” is translated as “the flesh” but it means the sinful state of a person. Applying this to verse 7, we learn that a person who sows to satisfy their sinful desires will reap the judgment and destruction of the Lord.

A lot higher stakes here, right?

We should be very careful what we are sowing because the Lord is paying close attention and ready to respond accordingly.

For this reason, we would be much better off sowing in ways that please the Spirit, ways that produce a harvest of fruits found at the end of chapter 5 of this letter, fruits like “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Vv. 22-23). These outcomes show we are in step with Jesus, the One who brings us to the Spirit, the One through which we gain eternal life.

As we live this life that the Lord has blessed us with, we have choices to make in regard to what we do and those choices have related consequences. Christian believers need to be totally conscientious about the things that they sow, just as Jesus was, because the only outcome that matters is a reaping that produces a favorable harvest of righteous and holy living, the kind of living that God expects.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com