Don't Open the Mail!
Thursday - July 30th Scripture to Read for Today's Devotional: Galatians 6:1-8
Today's Selection from our Sermon on the Mount Reading Plan: Matthew 7:1-12
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows.
Galatians 6:7
Over the last few weeks, citizens across the United States have reported receiving unsolicited packets of seeds in the U.S. Mail. Most appear to have been shipped from China. People from all 50 states now say that they have received the packets. The United States Departure of Agriculture (USDA) released a warning for Americans not to plant the seeds. The USDA has gathered sample seed packets from each state.
State agriculture departments have also warned their state's citizens not to plant any of the seeds. In Kentucky, the agriculture commissioner, Ryan Quarles, gave one of the most detailed of the warnings released so far. "We don't know what they are, and we cannot risk any harm whatsoever to agricultural production in the United States," he said. "We have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world and we need to keep it that way. At this point in time, we don't have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam, or an act of agricultural bioterrorism," Quarles added. "Unsolicited seeds could be invasive and introduce unknown diseases to local plants, harm livestock, or threaten our environment."
When I read the reports of theses packets arriving in the mailboxes of U.S. citizens, I could not help but think of Galatians chapter six. One of the simplest yet most profound principles of the Christian life is found in that chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatian Church. "A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7). If you plant corn kernels, you will get corn. If you plant apple seeds, you will get apples. Nature teaches this concept to anyone who does anything with crops or plants. You don't get apples from corn kernels, and you don't get corn by planting apple seeds. What you plant or sow in the ground, you get when harvest time comes.
Spiritually, the principle is the seed. You don't plant seeds of evil and expect to harvest goodness. You don't plant seeds of deception and hope to grow a crop of truth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His followers to invest in heavenly things rather than earthly things. When all of your investment and sowing of seed is focused on the temporary stuff of this world, you will reap the temporary things of this world.
God calls us to intentionally invest in and do the things that have eternal value and focus. When we do, we enjoy a harvest that lasts forever. Look at your own life. What are you sowing? Are you planting seeds of lust, greed, and pride, or are you planting seeds of love, hope, and faith? What you plant really matters in your life and the life of others, here on earth and for all eternity! Think about what you have planted in the last few days or even the last week. What have you been sowing?
If you get a packet of seeds in the mail you did not request, don't plant them. You have no idea what will grow from them. As you live for Christ, make sure you are planting the seeds of living and loving as He did. Those seeds will produce a beautiful and lasting fruit!
Focus on planting seeds that will produce a harvest for God's glory and the good of others!