Sowing and Reaping

What’s going on in your mind is important. It’s a constant conflict between the flesh and the Spirit for control of your mind. So what you allow to enter our minds is of the utmost importance in determining whether the flesh or the Spirit wins control. You have influence in this battle for our mind!

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny.”

The Apostle Paul understood the struggle that occurs in our minds and the strategy for victory. He also used the metaphor of sowing and reaping to help us pay attention to what we let sink into our minds: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:7-10)

That last line is so important in light of the small battles and the long war that continues for our mind: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

We mistakenly think that five minutes of Bible reading is an adequate amount of spiritual content for an instant transformation of our character. But that’s not how sowing and reaping works. There is a delay between sowing and reaping. It takes time for what we sow to take root and grow before it can be enjoyed. And that’s why we shouldn’t grow weary while doing good. In due season we will reap what we sow—either the works of the flesh as a result of feeing the flesh, or the fruit of the Spirit as a result of feeding our spirit.  

Pause and consider…what are you sowing right now? What content are you consuming in your mind? What will you be reaping in due season? Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, that he will also reap.