What Every Good Farmer Knows...
Galatians 6Scripture= Galatians 6:7-9 (New Living Translation)
(7) “Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! (8) Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (9) So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”
Observation= When you read these three verses there really is a very simple principle at work here. What you sow you are going to reap. Every farmer knows that if he plants peas he will harvest peas. If he plants corn he will harvest corn. What comes up out of the ground doesn’t surprise him. He really knows what to expect. He also knows that the condition of the crop depends on how well he tends to the crop. If he doesn’t weed or water or get rid of the bugs his crop could be severely damaged. I guess the one thing that I tend to forget is, what I am sowing today will be what I have tomorrow or the next day or some time in the future. I am living today what I sowed in my past. Sometimes it is immediate, for example; if I say something to someone and they respond back to me. Sometimes the turn around takes years to occur but there is always a return! So we can’t give up for the turn around, the harvest will come. If I sow in love to others I will receive love from someone in return. If I am mean to others I probably will sow loneliness in my past. It is like a person who never writes letters to anyone and is surprised that no one writes to him.
Application= The application of this passage is very direct. I must examine what I am sowing. If I surrender my will to the Lord just think how God can use me to plant seeds. I can be a sower for my own desires, to please myself or I can be used of God to sow His will and nature into the lives of others. I am going to plant seeds that act is inevitable. The only issue is who is choosing the seeds that I sow. I want to be someone who plants the right seeds and then is faithful to tend to their care. I know that God is the one that supplies the rain but I don’t want my actions and thoughts to cause weeds to grow over the new crops. I don’t want to allow bugs to attack the crops so I must be my brother and sisters keeper. The hardest thing for me is to be conscious that I am sowing today for tomorrow and what I have today I have sown earlier. It could that today I am sowing something in my life that I might not see until next year or even later. In some ways it is also like preparing for your future or retirement, what you do today will have an effect on the rest of your life. The truth about sowing and reaping is that I also am having an impact on the lives of others as well.
Prayer= Lord Jesus, help me listen to the Holy Spirit today and sow your seeds into the lives of those around me. Help me to do your will and not be selfish. Please help me not to react selfishly but to trust you and sow in faith that you are my provider. You hold my reputation, my life and self esteem in your hands. All I am is in you! Let me sow your seeds of loving kindness (grace) into the people around me today.
