For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (Gal. 6:8).
Yes, the harvest is coming. We shall all reap, but what--corruption or life everlasting? Sowing looks like a losing business, for we put seed into the ground and never see it again. Sowing "to the Spirit" seems like such a strange, intangible thing. We deny ourselves, and it may appear that we get nothing for it. Yet if we sow to the Spirit by living for God, studying to obey His commandments, and seeking to promote His honor in the world, we shall not sow in vain. The harvest will come at last, and it will be life--yes, everlasting life!
One Saturday night an old Scottish minister who had once been a missionary to India was feeling very low because he had seen little success in his work. Just then a messenger brought the monthly parcel of magazines from Edinburgh, and the first thing he read was an account of a revival in a certain district in India, produced by a tract. The writer of the article said that no one knew by whom the tract had been translated into the dialect of that district, but the old minister knew--and his heart rejoiced.
We must not stop sowing because the harvest seems delayed or because others deride us or hinder us. The very next verse after our text for today brings a very important if. "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.."
And what is the full harvest? Corruption, if we sow to the flesh--incompleteness, frustration, dissatisfaction, a sorrow unto death. But if we sow to the spirit, we have life, the knowledge of God, communion with God, the enjoyment of God. And life will flow on like a widening, deepening river until at last it flows into the infinite ocean of eternity, where the life of God is our "life everlasting" forever.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11).
Yes, the harvest is coming. We shall all reap, but what--corruption or life everlasting? Sowing looks like a losing business, for we put seed into the ground and never see it again. Sowing "to the Spirit" seems like such a strange, intangible thing. We deny ourselves, and it may appear that we get nothing for it. Yet if we sow to the Spirit by living for God, studying to obey His commandments, and seeking to promote His honor in the world, we shall not sow in vain. The harvest will come at last, and it will be life--yes, everlasting life!
One Saturday night an old Scottish minister who had once been a missionary to India was feeling very low because he had seen little success in his work. Just then a messenger brought the monthly parcel of magazines from Edinburgh, and the first thing he read was an account of a revival in a certain district in India, produced by a tract. The writer of the article said that no one knew by whom the tract had been translated into the dialect of that district, but the old minister knew--and his heart rejoiced.
We must not stop sowing because the harvest seems delayed or because others deride us or hinder us. The very next verse after our text for today brings a very important if. "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.."
And what is the full harvest? Corruption, if we sow to the flesh--incompleteness, frustration, dissatisfaction, a sorrow unto death. But if we sow to the spirit, we have life, the knowledge of God, communion with God, the enjoyment of God. And life will flow on like a widening, deepening river until at last it flows into the infinite ocean of eternity, where the life of God is our "life everlasting" forever.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11).
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