The Good Harvest

The Good Harvest

9.4.24 [Galatians 6:9] River of Life (Video Devotional)

After a long, hot summer, these next weeks are the right time to bring your garden back to life. While many other states are getting ready for harvest, gardeners around these parts are getting their hands back in the dirt. They’re planting beans and cucumbers, peppers and melons, tomatoes and tomatillos.

Gardening can be hard work. You have to till the soil and prepare it for your seeds and seedlings. And even after you plant the seeds, there’s still more to be done. You have to water. And wait. And watch. And water some more. Then weed and water. And wait. And watch. And weed some more. Gardening requires rolling up your sleeves and exercising great patience. But come harvest time, gardeners reap a great reward for all that hard work.

The harvest is why they put in all the hard work. Now, I’m sure there are a few gardeners who might say they have fallen in love with the process—but it’s the payoff of beautiful flowers and abundant fruits and veggies that encouraged them along the way.

In Galatians chapter 6, God draws on this experience to convey an important spiritual truth. We’re told: 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. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

God recognizes that doing good doesn’t always and immediately feel good. Sure there are moments when waves of joy sweep over you. There are times when people thank and praise you for how you have helped them or changed their lives. There are even those instances when someone sheepishly admits they needed you to admonish them.

But just as often—and sometimes more often than not—doing good is good hard work. It’s hard to bear the burdens of those who are dealing with many hardships. It’s hard to see someone headed headlong into sin and rebuke them firmly and restore them gently without falling into temptation ourselves. It’s hard work to be humble and kind, peaceable and principled, selfless and steadfast. There are moments of self-doubt and weakness, pain and grief, anxiety and worry.

So why do it, at all? Why not just keep your head down and stay out of trouble? Why involve yourselves in things you cannot fix, in problems you cannot solve, in the messiness of the lives of others?

Because you are a Christian. You are a child of your heavenly Father. Christ Jesus is not ashamed to call you his brother or sister. The Holy Spirit has made his home within you and designated your body as his Holy Temple. You were bought at a price. God made you worthy for this work.

By grace—God’s undeserved love—you were called to be God’s own. He made you a part of his eternally glorious family. And he has brought you into the family business of loving one another and serving one another. You are the perfect person for this work, because you know how God’s doing good has changed your life.

Every day of his life, Jesus sowed seeds to please the Spirit of God. Every single day, Jesus continued to do what was good. He rejected sin in all forms. He never chose personal pleasure over the needs of his fellow man. He never took short-cuts. He never let his ends justify his means. He did what was right and righteous even when it required hard work.

He loved the lonely and the hurting. He humbly served others even though he is the glorious Son of God. He patiently instructed people so that why could share the good things of God. Not only that, but he gave his life up for us. And he talked about it in gardening terms, too. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection have produced many seeds, many members of God’s glorious family—including you and me.

Yes, the work of doing good can be hard, but God renews our strength as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who loved us and lived for us and did good for all people. Not only that, but God has blessed us with a glorious family. Not only do they encourage day by day, but God has positioned and equipped them to serve us as he sees fit. At the proper time, we will reap a glorious harvest of righteousness.