Do you remember seed packets for sale at school? One of my favorite movies, Second-hand Lions, portrays two brothers who had retired from the Foreign Legion. One brother thought it would be good if they planted a garden. They bought seed from a traveling salesman and planted a variety of crops, only to discover that each row actually contained corn. The packages of seeds may say anything, but when they planted corn, they grew corn.
Whatever we sow we reap. This immutable principle stands the test of time. Paul differentiated between sowing to please the flesh and sowing to please the Spirit. Remember in the previous chapter, Paul enumerated the fruit of the Spirit and said, “Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Sowing to the flesh brings destruction but sowing to the Spirit produces eternal life.
How do we sow to please the Spirit? By doing good. As we plant good seeds, doing good for everyone, especially the family of believers, we are tempted to grow weary. We plant, water, and wait. This process may exhaust us. But God is never mocked. He makes sure that we harvest what we plant. By the Spirit, we may invest our time, energy, and love in the work of God. Or we may grow weary and give up. But if we continue to do good to others in God’s name, we reap a harvest of life as others come to know Christ through us.
