Thursday, March 3, 2011

March 4, 2011

"Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit."  Galatians 6:7-8

Life is measured in years but it is lived out in seconds and minutes and hours and days. In those seconds and minutes and hours and days you face choices regarding good and evil. Each choice carries consequences. The legacy you leave at the end of your years will be the result of those choices made in the seconds and minutes. You will reap then what you are sowing today. There are no "throw away" decisions. Every choice matters!

That fact adds weight to the importance of the dreaded "r" word - "routine". Everyone has one, whether they mean to or not. It is how you order your day and the choices you make in daily living. Routines are like dental appointments, you may not like them but it is hard to live without them. Doing the same routine day after day after day can become a grind and that grind can get you!

In Galatians 6:7-10, Paul deals with the significance of our daily choices. He frames it in the analogy of planting and harvesting. Understanding these truths can help you not only get through the grind BUT to grow through the grind.

So, the first thing I want to call your attention to is the "hows" of the harvest. If you can understand how sowing and reaping (or planting and harvesting) work, you can understand what goes into establishing a good routine.

The "how" of the harvest is this - you will reap what you sow. If you plant beans today you will not reap potatoes in the harvest. You will harvest what you planted - beans. And if you planted lima beans you will harvest lima beans not green beans.

Likewise, if in the seconds and minutes of your daily routine you make selfish decisions based on feelings or on what is easiest, you will suffer the consequences of those selfish decisions. Bad choices come back to bite you! Unfortunately, they will also bite those who love you and are touched by your routine.

When you plant your garden in a few weeks you will ask yourself this question, "What vegetables do I want to have by the end of the Summer. If you want corn and beans and tomatoes and carrots, those are the seeds you will plant. Your planting routine will be decided by what you want to harvest.

In exactly the same way, you should make your daily decisions and build your daily routine around your desired results. If you want a good harvest, you must make spiritual decisions based on what pleases God, not what makes you feel good.

Our "Living on Purpose" study showed us that it is our purpose to "overcome evil with good". That is the outcome God expects. So, every decision every day must be made to overcome evil with good. And the next day should be the same. And the next.....

That is a routine you can live with! When your routine is determined by the "how" of the harvest you will grow through your grind!