Life Is For Living

Galatians 6:8

"He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting"

It is our duty as Christians to be engaged in sowing to the Spirit. The very moment a person is born again this activity is expected to begin.  Christians are called to be different from the world, a peculiar people no longer living according to the flesh (natural thinking) or the worlds system.

We were given eternal life the moment we put our faith in Christ and were born again, but to get to experience  that life the Christian has to do something, and that "something" is sowing to the Spirit, "for he that soweth shall reap." Paul, inspired by the Holly Spirit, wrote to the Galatians because they had gotten off track and into the works of the law. After correcting and teaching them again that salvation(everlasting life) is by faith in Christ only, he admonishes them to get active in sowing to the Spirit, and for good reason, for he new that there was much blessing waiting for every believer willing to sow.

Sowing to the Spirit is not a complicated matter, in fact the gospel is so simple that we can easily miss it concerning spiritual things. Man kind through the fall has a natural incling to make things hard and/or complicated, but this is not the case with the gospel. Jesus said that His burden and yoke is light and easy, so if you are finding your walk with God hard or complicated then you are most likely missing it somewhere.

To better understand the principle of sowing we need to look at the analogy that Paul used. The people of that time lived and worked on the land and understood well the nature of the seed. Drawing on this understanding Paul instructs the Galatians that if they will sow to the Spirit they can expect to reap a harvest just like they would their crops, but this time it would be everlasting life. In other words, they could expect to experience (reap)everlasting life. The Galatians understood the principle of sowing and reaping, that when you sow seed you get a harvest, and the more you sow the bigger the harvest.

What dose this mean for the Christian? It means that before there is any experiencing (reaping) of eternal life there must be some sowing. God has so much for is children to experience. Yes we have a place forever in heaven when we die, but there is much to be experienced here and now in this life, for eternal life is to know God while still living this side of eternity.

So how do we sow to the Spirit? To better understand the principle lets take a look at the anti type, sowing to the flesh.

You will find a person sowing to the flesh engaging in such activities as:

• Gossiping
• Slandering
• Lying
• Fornication
• Hatred
• Backbiting
• Complaining
• Fighting
• Drunkenness

and the list goes on, I think you get the picture.

Every person alive is sowing something every day of their lives, and people who sow to the flesh reap only corruption. For example, drunks usually end up dying young and killing others along the way, the fornicator destroys families, tax avoiders get caught and spend time in jail, and people who slander destroy the character of those being slandered . I'm sure you can think of lots more, but my point is that sowing to the flesh always brings corruption in various forms. The wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23. Rom6:21 also says, "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death" (corruption)

Sowing to the Spirit, however, causes the sower to experience everlasting life. How do I sow to the Spirit you might ask?

Primarily a believer sows to the Spirit by studying to live unto God, to obey His will as revealed through the Word, and to promote God's honor by being more Christ like, for we are called to be conformed into the image of His Son, Rom 8:29

By  reading, meditating, and doing the Word you are actively sowing to the Spirit. The bible should always be the first point of reference for the Christian in all matters pertaining to this life and Godliness. A well used and worn bible is usually an indication of a lot of Spiritual sowing.

As for myself I have found God has always been faithful to His promise. The more I study to do His will the more everlasting life He allows me to experience, and this will be the same for every believer. What I mean by everlasting life is the God kind of life. Its the sense of His presence, the anointing, and the joy of the Lord. God wants His children to be spiritually minded because spiritually minded people sow to the Spirit.

Sowing to the Spirit can also be very practical in its application. For example, doing good unto others especially unto the the house hold of faith, as Gal 6:10 says, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Sowing our finances, giving our time, and praying for others are all practical ways to sow.

The third epistle of John gives us a good example of the practical application of sowing to the Spirit, here the believers are commended for their charity (love) toward the itinerant preachers who had come to them.

3John "Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the bretheren and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a Godly sort, thou shalt do well."

Itinerant preachers had come to town and the believers looked after them, while Diotrephes presumably an influential elder in a church somewhere would not receive the preachers. The former sowed to the Spirit whilst the latter sowed to the flesh. John hearing about this commends the charitable believers telling them they have done well. They had done good unto those of the household of faith. Let us do the same, lets remember to do good as the opportunity comes.

Also, I  encourage you to read the third epistle of John and take note of his thoughts concerning Diotrephes, a man who is evidently sowing to the flesh. It would seem that John is not too happy with the man, and it would be safe to say that the Holy Spirit felt the same as it was He that inspired John to write the epistle in the first place.

It should be noted that we are not to sow just for the reward, or just as a means to an end, but we should be genuinely interested in God's business. Happy is the believer with the right attitude, for he sows for the right reasons knowing that God will allow him to experience more and more everlasting life.

 Let us not this day sow to the flesh, for the harvest will surely be corruption since the flesh always tends that way, but lets sow to the Spirit seeking to honor our Lord. He who sows in such a manner will enter into communion with God, find an ever deepening knowledge of God, and experience a richer more fuller enjoyment of God.