Daily Devotional for Thursday 14th March
You reap what you sow
Here Paul gives us all a warning to reinforce what has been said in the previous verses about the difference between living sinfully to please ourselves (‘the flesh’) and living to please God (‘the Spirit). We will, one day, reap what we sow. If we do what we please and seek to satisfy the flesh, we will reap destruction.
If we trust in Christ and seek to please the Spirit, seek to grow the fruit, we will have eternal life. Note there is no time frame for when we reap, but it will happen at the proper time – when God decides.
So, Paul encourages us to not give up and to keep doing good – helping and serving others. But also notice we should “do good… especially to the family of believers.” What does this mean? Maybe think about which charities you give money to or volunteer with, making sure we support Christian charities over secular ones. Does that challenge your thinking, or does it challenge the way you think about other Christians at church?
Time to reflect…
Do the words of this hymn help you to rest in God’s grace?
And His that gentle voice we hear,
Soft as the breath of even,
That checks each fault, that calms each fear,
And speaks of heaven.
For every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are His alone.
Pause to pray…
Father, I repent of the times I just follow my own desires without thinking about what you would have me do or think.
I thank you for reminding me of the freedom from sin that I have in Christ.
I thank you for your love to me that you showed so clearly in Christ.
I thank you for speaking to me in your word, the bible, and by your Spirit. I pray that you will keep speaking to me as I read your word. Please soften my heart to help me be led by your Spirit and help me recognise the difference between the desires of ‘flesh’ and ‘spirit.’
Amen.
