Paul has spent most of the letter to the Galatians explaining why salvation cannot be found through adherence to the law of Moses. Toward the end of the book, he now reintroduces some laws that have are good, from God, and still have great impacts on our daily life.
In the past weeks, we have talked about the ethical good of the law of Christ. The law of Christ is a fancy way of saying that believers who are born-again followers of Jesus possess a lifelong passion to obey the things that Jesus commanded them to do. A life without the desire to obey Christ is not a life that is lived in Christ.
In this passage, we review what is often called the law of the harvest. This law, implemented by God into the created order, gives us an orderly way to understand and predict how the choices we make and the things we do will have consequences for the future. The law of the harvest applies to the natural, physical, relational, and spiritual realms of life.
We must be reminded of the law of the harvest because it can often seem as if the consequence of my action is not turning out to be all that it should be. That is the nature of sowing. Very seldom do we have an immediate response to the thing that we do? Just like a plant grown from a seed, a word, thought, or action can take weeks, months, or even years to bear the fruit of its conclusion.
Galatians 6:7-10
The Apostle Paul is saying “Make no mistake. Your fleshly thinking does not produce immediate death. It takes time to reap the fruit. But the reaping will come. In the same way, you don’t always benefit from doing good right away, but good that is done in the spirit will be repaid in the realm where you are going to live forever.”
Discussion Questions
- Why is the law of the harvest so difficult to remember on a day-to-day basis?
- Describe a time when you have seen, for good or for bad, a seed sown that took a long time to yield its result?
- What does it look like for you to “sow to the flesh?”
- What does it look like for you to “sow to the Spirit?”
- How can an action that looks the same externally be either a seed sown to the flesh or a seed sown to the Spirit based on motives?
- What is one area in life where you need to sow less into?
- What is one area in life where you need to sow more into?
- How can we cultivate a long-term mindset in life?