As Paul the apostle
continues to share with the Galatian church members about their
behavior toward one another, he has declared there is a difference
between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh manifests itself in a
multitude of sins, and the spirit manifest itself in love, joy,
peace, etc. In chapter six and verse eight, Paul directs the
Galatians toward the result of sowing to the flesh or the spirit. He
wrote:
For he that sows to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
In
verse seven, Paul warned, “Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” This
warning should immediately concern those who read it about the seed
they sow. Paul begins, “For he that sows to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption;”
When a person sows to his or her carnal, fleshly nature and the
satisfying of the same, he or she shall reap a harvest of corruption.
The idea is somewhat like, “garbage in, garbage out”, and when a
person feeds his or her mind and body with fleshly, corruptible seed,
the expected fruit should be corruption, destruction, and perishing.
The end result of sowing to the flesh is unethical, immoral, and
eventually eternally miserable results. Exceeding and abundant damage
has been done to the Christian who continually sows fleshly seed in
his or her life.
Paul
however continued, “but he that sows to the Spirit shall
of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
Thank God for this exception from Paul. He begins with his proverbial
“but” which
denotes there is something about to be stated that has greater
importance than what was just stated. “But he that sows
to the Spirit...”. There is a
different way for Paul's readers to sow, “to the Spirit”,
and this should be the emphasis of all believers in Jesus Christ.
There should be a sowing to the Spirit, which means there should be
emphasis upon the spiritual things such as Bible study, prayer,
worship, and duty before God Almighty. Meditating upon the spiritual
principles, sharing the gospel with others, and living in a manner
pleasing to God is sowing to the Spirit. Paul says when a person
follows these practices he or she, “shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting.” The
harvest from sowing to the Spirit will be “life
everlasting” which denotes not
only living forever with God, but a life style that is superior to
the normal life.
When
we consider Paul's words, perhaps we should begin by examining the
fruit and harvest of our ways up until this point. Are we producing
spiritual fruit or fleshly fruit? Are our minds filled with spiritual
practices or are we constantly attempting to satisfy our flesh? If we
were to be examined by others in our life style, behavior, attitudes
and words, would they say that we sow to our flesh or to our spirit?
We know now from Paul that whichever nature to which we sow we shall
reap, and may his words inspire us to be continually sowing to the
Spirit, that we may harvest the life everlasting of which he spoke.
Let us feed our spirits, and allow our fleshly desires to go without
seed.
Next time Paul will help us when we grow weary of well doing, so read
ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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