OUR DAILY BREAD : SOWING AND REAPING

[cimi]

September 27
Thursday


SOWING AND
REAPING

READ:
Galatians 6:6-9
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Do not be deceived,
God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap,
__ Galatians 6:7
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It seemed innocent enough at the time. I had just come home from high school and told my mom that I was going to a friend's house to play football. She insisted that I stay home and do my homework. Instead, I slipped out the back door and spent the next 2 hours making tackles and touchdowns in my friend's backyard. But on the last play, I was tackled into a swingset and knocked out my front tooth. It hurt like crazy, but not as badly as telling my parents.

That choice to disobey put me on a 10-year path of dental problems and pain that have continuing implications today. Ballplayer Roy Hobbs said in the film The Natural, "Some mistakes you never stop paying for."

Centuries earlier, Paul captured the same idea in the universal law of sowing and reaping. He said, "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Our choices often have a reach and impact that we could never imagine. Thus the apostle's words remind us to choose wisely.

The choices we make today produce the consequences we reap tomorrow. It's far better to avoid sin in the first place than to struggle to overcome its consequences.

Lord, we need Your wisdom to help us make good choices, and forgiveness when we make bad choices. __ Bill Crowder
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Surer than autumn's harvests~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Are harvests of thought and deed;~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~Like those that our hands have planted,~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~The yield will be like the seed. __ Harris ~~~~~~~~~~
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One good reason for doing the right thing today
is tomorrow.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ Galatians 6:6-9**********

6 Let him who is taught
the word share in all
good things with him
who teaches. 7 Do not
be deceived, God is not
mocked; for whatever a
man sows, that he will also
reap. 8 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. 9 And let us not grow
weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall
reap if we do not lose heart.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Living in an agrarian society, the early Christians were familiar
with the image of reaping what you sow. When used in the Old
Testament, this metaphor is often applied to reaping what we sow
in sin and wickedness (Job 4:8; Prov. 5:22; 22:8; Jer. 4:18; Hos.
10:13). In the New Testament, Paul applied the image to the use of
money (2 Cor. 9:6). Here in Galatians, Paul instructs the believer
who has benefited from the teaching of God's Word to share
material blessings with those who teach (6:6; Rom. 15:27). Instead
of spending money and time on things that do not last (sowing to
the flesh, v.8), the believer is to invest in things eternal (sowing to
the Spirit). __SKT