Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
7Stop being deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man
is sowing, this he will also reap, 8because the one sowing into his
own flesh, out of that flesh will reap destruction, but the one sowing into the
Spirit, out of that Spirit will reap eternal life. 9But let us not
be desponding doing the beautiful for we will reap in proper season, not giving
up. 10Consequently therefore, as we have season, let us be doing the
good toward all, and especially toward the ones belonging to the household of
the faith.
As I noted in my last post, I believe verse 10 is a grand
conclusion of Galatians 6:1-10, which is itself a grand conclusion for all that
Paul has said about the supremacy of grace over law and of Spirit-life over our
naturally bent flesh. That being said, one has to stop and just ponder for a
while over verse 10.
Doing good. What’s he saying? If we are blood-bought people
actually indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, living not law but grace, and if we
allow all of that to transform us, what will we become? People who do good.
Do good.
It strikes me this is something we have all but lost in
modern Christianity.
But we shouldn’t be surprised at this admonition. Acts 10:38
says of Jesus, “…God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went around
doing good …”
Doing good.
The book of Hebrews closes with a similar
admonition: “And do not forget to do good
and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (13:16).
Note again the familiar verse from the
Sermon on the Mount: “In the same way, let your light
shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father
in heaven” (Matt 5:16).
Once again, I think this is all worth a very
large ponder. Doing good. As I have been studying the Bible myself for over
thirty years now, I really think we’ve lost sight of this. I believe God puts
us on this earth and outfits us with talents and abilities with the intent that
we should be people who do good, people who contribute positively to our world
and to the lives of people around us. The Bible is full from cover to cover of
people simply doing good. God put Adam in the Garden “To keep it and to till
it.” He made Eve to help Adam. When Isaac’s servant found Rebekah she was tending
her father’s sheep. Even in slavery, everywhere Joseph went he did excellent
work. When it was time to build the Tabernacle, the Lord said to Moses, (Exodus
31:1-5):
“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, … and
I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with
knowledge and with all kinds of skills -- to make artistic
designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to
work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”
What of all the men who were good soldiers? Good kings? In a
sense this is what even the prophets were about – doing good by warning the
people. Even the parable of the sower and the seed centers around a man doing
his job – a farmer sowing seed so there will be a harvest so there will be food
to eat so people don’t starve. He’s “doing good.”
The Bible is full of people “doing good” precisely because
that is what we’re all supposed to be doing. When we do our jobs well, when we
are faithful in our responsibilities whether at work, at home, in the
community, or within our church, we are doing good for everyone around us. What
if everybody did? Holy Spirit indwelling is, in part, for the very purpose of
freeing us to be who we were created to be – people who spend their lives saying
not “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go” but “I’m off to work to do good today.”
I wonder, when we as Christians talk about “getting
serious,” when we would talk about genuinely submitting to the Holy Spirit,
what do we think that will mean? What I hear rather constantly at church is the
idea that “really” committed people end up leaving their jobs and running off
somewhere to do something great. Obviously there are a few people in God’s
world whom He calls to full-time ministry type positions. We need those people
to do that “good” which God assigned them to do. But is that really what He
asks of the vast majority of born-again people? I would suggest the answer is
no. What does He want most of us to do? Be like Jesus and “go about doing
good.” “Not forget to do good and to share with others.” I really like what was
written in Our Daily Bread:
“Jesus
went about doing good … His followers are to do good especially to fellow
believers (Gal 6:10). They are not to let persecution, selfishness, and busyness
cause them to forget to do good and to share what they have with others (Heb
13:16). To be like our Savior … we should ask ourselves each day: ‘What good
thing can I do today in Jesus’ name?’ When we do good, we will be offering a
sacrifice that pleases God (Heb 13:16) and that draws people to Him (Matt 5:16).”
Our Daily Bread, 8/1/11, Marvin Williams
I live in a world where I have a family who needs me. I have
a job where people need me. I live in a community where people need me, attend
a church where people need me. I certainly have no lack of opportunity to “go
about doing good.” In fact, as I noted above, all I have to do is get up in the
morning and live my life and every moment, at every turn, I am given
opportunities to do good. What of a mother who doesn’t fix breakfast for her
children? What of a neighbor who doesn’t mow his grass? What of a painter who
does sloppy work? What of a manager who sits at his desk and doesn’t really
manage? Are these pictures of what a real born-again person should look like? No.
In each of these cases, the person isn’t seeing every one of these situations
as an opportunity “to do good.”
What I fear is that Christians don’t see these as
opportunities “to do good” either. What I mean is they don’t see that God cares
intimately about each of these situations. They don’t see this as “what their
faith is all about.” They think serving God means spending time at the church
building, or going “door to door,” or something “spiritual.” But it doesn’t
include the mundane everyday things they do. It doesn’t include the work they
do all day every day. It somehow doesn’t include acts of kindness just for
kindness’ sake. Teaching Sunday School “counts” but volunteering to coach boy’s
little league does not. What a tragedy. It is the mundane of life that is our
lives. That’s where most of us live. That’s where faith has to make a difference,
or it really makes little difference at all. The ascetic can go sit atop his
tower for weeks and months and a lot of people may be impressed but the truth
is he’s doing no one any good. How much better to come down off his tower and
do something that actually makes someone else’s life a little easier?
What if everybody did?
What if we all climbed down off the towers of our isolated
“spirituality” and lived a faith that deliberately blessed people everywhere we
went? What if we sought the Holy Spirit’s help to do everything we do, to
fulfill every responsibility? We’d be like “doing good to all men.” What a
novel idea.
If we did it all in Jesus’ name, if we did it all seeing it
as our opportunity to love people, to be a blessing in our world, we’d be “sowing
to the Spirit.” When we don’t see it as important to God, when we don’t see our
whole lives as an opportunity to “do good,” if we aren’t very deliberately
doing it for love, we are by default “sowing to our flesh.”
I personally find all of this very liberating. As I have
been studying this and pondering it, it has really encouraged me to go to work
and see it all as my opportunity to “do good.” As an engineer, it seems like
all day every day I deal with difficult situations, sometimes with difficult
people. It is unbelievable how hard it is just to keep a job moving and get it
done. But it all needs to be done and
done well. People need for someone to get the job done. The Holy Spirit is present
with me to help me get the job done, to “do good” to the people who depend on
me.
I wish every Christian could see how important their lives
are to God – not just the things they do at the church building but their
entire lives, everything they do all day every day. It sure makes life fun! It
is such a blessing to actually experience the Lord’s very present help even as
I am simply trying to do the things I must do every day. Isn’t it cool that
walking with God in the end means freedom to live? There’s this whole book
called Galatians which was written to correct a church group in the 1st
century. We read it today, understand what God was saying to them, and the
truth it teaches frees us to live love and joy and peace right in the very
world where we spend our days.
Lord, may we all live our relationship with you 24/7. May
Your Spirit help us be like Jesus, to “go about doing good,” to really care, to
live not for the petty rules but for the big picture of what You’re doing in
this world. May we in fact be epistles written on our hearts. May Your presence
in us stir the hunger in others to know You.
Erkahm ka na, Adonai.
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