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7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 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. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7-10)
In today's text, we are considering the third of four characteristics of the spiritual man. The danger of our spiritual success is the flesh always looks for an opportunity to glorify itself. Therefore, the Apostle, in this last chapter of Galatians, gives us this fourfold description of what the spiritual man looks like. Having considered the first two already, today, we are considering the third.
The third characteristic of the spiritual man is: he sows to the Spirit.
Our text makes it clear, believers in Christ have two opposing forces in our lives: the flesh and the Spirit. We have two options on a given moment: we either feed the flesh or we feed the Spirit.
In v.7 we read, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked." This means we can not ignore God and His word, and expect no consequences of our rebellious choices. "God cannot be mocked" means God means exactly what He has told us in His word. Paul is sounding a warning that if we ignore God, we will not experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us, even though we are born again and on our way to heaven.
Our problem is with deception and being willing to deal with our love of deception. We tend, by nature, to deceive ourselves. Our natural inclination is to choose to be deceived rather than to face the truth that is painful and unpleasant. But, we can stop the process any time we choose. I can trust God and choose to feed the Spirit of God who has made my spirit alive to God and His ways.
In v.8 we discover the word "destruction" which is better translated "ruin" or "corruption." It was used to describe decaying dead bodies in New Testament times. It describes a kind of corrupting ruin that takes place over time. The Lord described it as "death" in Genesis while talking with Adam and Eve.
In v.9-10 Paul writes, "Don't quit too soon. Don't grow weary in doing good. You will reap if you don't give up." Our problem is there is a time lag between our choices and the results, in this case the fruit. Our tendency will always be to quit too soon, to not want to wait for the harvest to come. And so Paul's encouragement is "Don't quit. What you sow, you reap. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
Then the Apostle writes, "As we have the opportunity," "let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Doing good is the result of feeding the Spirit of God who feeds on the thoughts and choices of God as given in His word. I am reminded of the Lord Jesus' words when the disciples urged Him to eat. He said, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." This work yields the life we are all seeking to find.
A grandfather and grandson were out hunting one early morning, and they came upon a ridge on the mountain…. over the ridge was a large clearing below, where at a distance, they could see two wolves fighting furiously.
They watched as the wolves attacked each other in battle. The grandfather narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, “Ah, yes…. this is the way with all of us Human Beings, within our hearts, each and every day.”
The grandson asked, “What do you mean, grandfather?”, to which he replied;
“Always in our hearts, every day, is a struggling battle, like those two wolves down there…. one wolf represents in us the one who wishes to do bad things, and the other represents the one who wishes to do good things.”
So the boy thought long and hard on these things, as he continued to watch the wolves battling below. They both battled fiercely, neither one backing down. Seeing this, he asked, “But grandfather, how will I know which wolf will win within me?”
The grandfather smiled, looked at his grandson with an understanding eye, and told him, ”the one you FEED the most.”
A grandfather and grandson were out hunting one early morning, and they came upon a ridge on the mountain…. over the ridge was a large clearing below, where at a distance, they could see two wolves fighting furiously.
They watched as the wolves attacked each other in battle. The grandfather narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, “Ah, yes…. this is the way with all of us Human Beings, within our hearts, each and every day.”
The grandson asked, “What do you mean, grandfather?”, to which he replied;
“Always in our hearts, every day, is a struggling battle, like those two wolves down there…. one wolf represents in us the one who wishes to do bad things, and the other represents the one who wishes to do good things.”
So the boy thought long and hard on these things, as he continued to watch the wolves battling below. They both battled fiercely, neither one backing down. Seeing this, he asked, “But grandfather, how will I know which wolf will win within me?”
The grandfather smiled, looked at his grandson with an understanding eye, and told him, ”the one you FEED the most.”
