Thursday: Sowing and Reaping
(Gal. 6:6-10)
In Galatians 6:7, the word translated “mocked” (mukterizo) occurs only here in the New Testament, though it often appears in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It literally means “to turn up one’s nose in contempt.”
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In the Old Testament it typically refers to the despising of God’s prophets (2 Chron. 36:16, Jer. 20:7), and it even is used once to describe graphically a rebellious attitude toward God (Ezek. 8:17).
Paul’s point is that people may ignore God or even flout His commandments, but they cannot outwit God. He is the ultimate judge, and in the end they will have to pay the price for their actions.
Read Galatians 6:8. What does Paul mean here? What examples can you find in the Bible of characters sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit? (See, for example, Acts 5:1-5, Luke 22:3, Dan. 1:8, Matt. 4:1.)
Paul’s metaphor about sowing and reaping is not unique. It is a fact of life that appears in many ancient proverbial sayings. What is significant, however, is how Paul uses it to highlight his previous comments about the flesh and the Spirit. James D. G. Dunn notes, “A modern equivalent is that we are free to choose, but we are not free to choose the consequences of our choice.” — Galatians, p. 330.
Although God does not always deliver us from the earthly consequences of our sins, we should not be overcome with despair for the bad choices we have made. We can rejoice that God has forgiven us of our sins and adopted us as His children. We should capitalize on the opportunities we have now to invest in those things that will yield a heavenly harvest.
Galatians 6:10, meanwhile, illustrates the point that “Christian ethics has a dual focus: one is universal and all-embracing, ‘Let us do good to all people’; the other is particular and specific, ‘especially to those who belong to the family of believers.’ Paul’s universalistic appeal was based on the fact that all persons everywhere are created in the image of God and are thus infinitely precious in [H]is sight. Whenever Christians have forgotten this primary datum of biblical revelation, they have inevitably fallen victim to the blinding sins of racism, sexism, tribalism, classism, and a thousand other bigotries that have blighted the human community from Adam and Eve to the present day.” — Timothy George, Galatians, pp. 427, 428.
| You are sowing, either for good or bad. Look at yourself. What kind of harvest are you going to reap? |
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Often my best behaviour is to those outside of my family, but to those most dear to me very little effort is made to show Godly love. I pray that I make every effort to show love to my family, so my behaviour to others is genuine and not with false presences.
Amen! And don't limit family to biological family - expand it to "my church family" those outside the family are most impacted by how the family treats each other!!
Does it sound just like what happens to the farmer who plants small potatoes, that destruction comes from the natural result of being out of harmony with God’s law of life? What message is suggested by, “Paul’s point is that people may ignore God or even flout His commandments, but they cannot outwit God. He is the ultimate judge, and in the end they will have to pay the price for their actions.”
Does this sound like the natural results of planting small potatoes, or more like, God will punish you by giving you a small harvest? Do we do harm when we present such concepts? What harm comes from such ideas? What do young people do if they are presented with such ideas? Does it ever cause people to reject God altogether? Do we have a responsibility as Christians to present a better message?
This is what Mrs White wrote on the topic:
“The Spirit of God keeps evil under the control of conscience. When man exalts himself above the influence of the Spirit, he reaps a harvest of iniquity. Over such a man the Spirit has less and less influence to restrain him from sowing seeds of disobedience. Warnings have less and less power over him. He gradually loses his fear of God. He sows to the flesh; he will reap corruption. The harvest of the seed that he himself has sown, is ripening. He has a contempt for God’s holy commandments. His heart of flesh becomes a heart of stone. Resistance to truth confirms him in iniquity. It is because men sowed seeds of evil, that lawlessness, crime, and violence prevailed in the antediluvian world. “All should be intelligent in regard to the agency by which the soul is destroyed. It is not because of any decree that God has sent out against man. He does not make man spiritually blind. God gives sufficient light and evidence to enable man to distinguish truth from error. But He does not force man to receive truth. He leaves him free to choose the good or to choose the evil. If man resists evidence that is sufficient to guide his judgment in the right direction, and chooses evil once, he will do this more readily the second time. The third time he will still more eagerly withdraw himself from God and choose to stand on the side of Satan. And in this course he will continue until he is confirmed in evil, and believes the lie he has cherished as truth. His resistance has produced its harvest (MS 126, 1901).”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1112. Metaphor is only metaphor when it's tied to reality. Otherwise it's just fantasy!
This is am amazing morning. You see, I just read this and a text message from a person who has caused me great personal pain by stealing a large sum of money. He is aware and it was forgiven, but when I heard he did this same thing to a youth group I was even more angry. So, I avoided this person, that is until he sent a text of prayers for his wife. Now I find myself with a choice. Clearly praying I will do, but how to respond to the text is also critical. I believe, based on this lesson, the greatest choice is to use Christ as my example. To not point out what he may had done wrong to me or the youths, but to help him understand that what he did was against Christ and that he should consider fixing this problem. If I continue this bitterness, then biter is what I will reap. But if I plant the seed of compassion and honesty, then what I will reap comes from God were He will say, "You have done well." Communication is the key, understand that the devil will try to tempt me and create confusion. I need to keep focus, to the point and use Christian Ethics in finding this resolution. Thank you Lord...
My brother your decision to be like Christ to take on his characteristics and to handle the situation as the bible thought us to do is your key & path to redemption. I wish with all my heart all Christian especially those of our faith would think like you. Yes my brother let us all plant the seed of compassion and honest. Don't worry about the brother if he seeks God and turn away from his ways God is able to restore the joy of salvation to him .Let us hope by your kindness and forgiveness he will be drawn to be converted." Let you light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the father "
We will have to stand before God when Jesus returns. Our actions will finally be recognized. And there is basically nothing in ourselves that can save us. But perhaps by walking in the Spirit, closer to Jesus every day, we may reflect a little bit of Him... And by His mercy, we hope to be considered fit!
Jesus wept at our behavior in life. We have a problem weeping in our life when it come to others.
I think that in some cases this is the only course - if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:Lev 26:42 KJV
If the question is what are we sowing? If you have the necessary ability, then you may have a good answer.
Our natural inclinations are not the norm where the heart of love is concerned.
we need to plant good seeds to people as christ commanded that love your neighbour as you love yourself.our actions should reflect christ.Amen.
The new commandment that Christ gave us is to "love one another as i have loved you, that you also love one another". John 13:34. It is different from the old one that seeks to love yourself first. But yes indeed our actions should reflect Christ.
James D. G. Dunn notes, “A modern equivalent is that we are free to choose, but we are not free to choose the consequences of our choice.”
But what are the consequences of intervening in a person’s life to prevent the natural consequences of their actions? I have seen parents who have done this and ruined the life of their son or daughter, who now as an adult moves from one unhappy event to another, because they appear to be incapable of making good choices.
So with this in mind, what kind of interventions should a Christian or a church make in the life of a person who is suffering the consequences of their bad choices? What principles should the Christian use to determine when and what kind of interventions to make in this person’s life? Is there a responsibility to help a person bear the burden of the bad choices they have made? How can the Christian act redemptively in situations like this?