I’ve been reflecting on Galatians 5 and 6 this week. It fits really nicely with our series in Micah where he’s calling Israel back to the Mosaic covenant - back to loving God and loving people.

Paul is challenging the people to walk in freedom from the Mosaic law and to simply trust in Christ. What’s interesting is that while the law was left behind, God’s purpose remained. Paul told them not to use their freedom to serve themselves but rather to serve one another humbly in love (Gal 6:13). What changed in Jesus is not the call to love others but the empowerment to actually live it out.

In pursuit of these goals, Paul instructed them to walk by the Spirit (5:16), be led by the Spirit (5:18) and to sow to please the Spirit. It was to be a participative not passive process. As we do these things, we open ourselves up to God producing fruit in our lives that leads to us being people who truly love and serve others.

But what does it mean to “sow” to please the Spirit? If you think about seeds, they look small and insignificant. They are nothing like the crops or flowers you want to end up with. Nevertheless, you sow something into the ground, cover it up and a hidden process transforms the seed.

I wonder if there is a parallel here for us. The call to love and serve others is hard because we’re not talking about one off kind gestures. This is a posture for our whole lives. But God is not calling us to create the finished product - that’s his job. Our job is to participate with him by sowing seeds.

Sowing seeds then must be taking ownership of the things that are in our control. It’s creating habits of daily devotion in Scripture, prayer and worship. It’s prioritising gathering with the church. It’s looking for ways to faithfully serve those around you or giving generously to those in need. In fact, it’s any decision you make that prioritises others over yourself. These things can seem small but that’s ok, they’re just seeds. But it’s in these small seeds that God is in hidden work, transforming you into a fruitful person who is consistently growing in love for others.

So why not use these question as a lens through which to see the decisions you have to make today. With what I am about to do, am I seeking to please the Spirit or myself? Am I deciding what’s best for me or others?

Much love,
Simon

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Sowing to please the Spirit