A Deeper Life In ChristSample

We will reap one day what we sow today

As Apostle Paul was closing his letter to the church at Galatia, he mentioned about a very important principle that is so evident in nature, and which can be transposed into our spiritual lives as well. This is the principle of ‘sowing and reaping.’ When a farmer plants seeds of a particular grain into the ground, he does not have to second-guess what plant that will sprout and emerge in due time. It is natural to assume that the sheaves of grain reaped in the future will be an exponential multiplication of the seeds sown into the ground today. However, there is a waiting period between the sowing and reaping events, but we will reap fruits of whatever seed we have planted - one day in the future!

Thus the seeds that we sow today will determine what kind of fruit we will reap tomorrow. What we plant that we will reap. Our choices have consequences and that includes how we spend our time, talent and treasures every day. There is a striking relationship between sowing and reaping in our spiritual lives as well. When we live just to please our fleshly desires and passions, we will reap corruption by coveting what is not ours; we will be self-centered and selfish in our attitudes and we will live always looking inward all the time. On the other hand, when we walk in the spirit and live to please God, we will reap the fruit of the Spirit that include "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

Let us choose to ‘sow to the Spirit’ today and reap eternal life in the future (v. 8). We must do good to everyone within our area of influence (especially to fellow believers in Christ), and we will reap the rewards in due time if we do not get discouraged (vv. 9-10). We should sow good seeds pertaining to our eternal destiny in order to experience the fruit of God’s blessings in our lives. Let the following prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi be our prayer today:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.