Who likes to garden?! For me, there is nothing like a fresh picked cucumber from my backyard garden. Or a fresh picked any fruit or veggie for that matter!
But here comes the cool part of this post: You are a full-time gardener. Actually, you're a professional farmer. That's right- it's true. No lie. And you are probably wondering whether to read the rest of this or not ... trust me, I am going somewhere with this! But hold your horses.
Have you ever heard the saying "You will reap what you sow"? Pretty self-explanatory, right? Hmm. In Galatians 6:7-9 Paul writes, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
--Even a small child knows that if he plants tomato seeds in a garden, tomatoes will grow in it. He doesn't expect to see carrots growing out of the tomato spot one day. There is an obvious deduction here between what we put into the ground and what grows out of it.
But have you ever thought this to be true in your spiritual life? You plant seeds every day in two different gardens. One garden is the garden of the Spirit-- the one that pleases and glorifies God. The second garden is the garden of the world-- the one where Satan is the king and our flesh gets the best of us. You put your seeds in one of the two gardens with every choice that you make each day. Want to know something staggering? According to USA Today, the average person makes about 35,000 choices each day. Crazy. On any given day, hour or minute we can walk from one garden to the other and bend down and sow seeds in either one. Our sinful thoughts, actions and deeds all are seeds that fall and land in the garden of our flesh. That reaps destruction! The things that you see in your spiritual life today are the direct results of what you have placed in the soil of your life in the past. And I find myself frequently wondering why my spiritual life seems dry... it only takes me looking at my past few days for me to realize why. John Stott writes, "Some Christians sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they do not reap holiness." I need to sow a whole lot more seeds in the garden of righteousness. Holiness is a harvest. It is not just something that we are born with. We need to keep the field of the Spirit ripe and rich with seeds and soil. 35,000 choices every day. How many of them are in God's garden?
What have you planted in the soil of your heart and soul lately? What garden are you tending to plant in? Just a few thoughts that I felt needed to be written down. I sure needed the reality check.
Bless you all!
"you reap what you sow" a saying we forget some times and go about our life without realizing every decision or choice can have such a lasting effect. im praying too, that i can sow more into the field of holiness... and bring glory to my God. thanks for sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteEmily, this is so true. You wrote this very well. PeacefulDivas had a post just the other day about seeds (but in her case it was the parable of the sower), and she wrote about how we must over-seed to get rid of the weeds in our life (by over-seeding she meant spending lots of time in the word, and with God). What a good reminder you wrote about being conscious not just of our choices, but of what they will cause further down the road.
ReplyDeletethat is so true...loved this post. i may have to use a part of it for my blog someday if that's ok? :) love the verse in galatians!
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