Always begins today

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. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (Galatians 6:7-9 NLT)

When God uses an 'absolute' in his Word, I try to pay attention closely to what he is saying. It is as though he is adding exclamation marks and asking for us to focus on what he is saying. The absolute? ALWAYS. You will ALWAYS harvest what you plant. To that end, I think he is saying we are to do good, not some of the time, or when the urge hits you a certain way, but all the time, even when it doesn't feel good or easy. ALWAYS. Our own desires and that pesky sinful nature will attempt to convince us to do otherwise, but when we commit to the ALWAYS of God's commands, we will reap a great harvest!

It is easy to grow weary in doing what is good, isn't it? We start the year with the intention of eating well, getting a little more exercise each day, and actually setting some goals for our finances. By the end of January, we are back to our old eating habits, the walks have dwindled to a couple times a week, and we are back to our usual online shopping patterns. Why? We didn't commit to the ALWAYS! We 'said' we would, but somewhere along the way it got too hard, so we backed off from those goals. This past week, our pastor's message challenged us to read God's Word more days in a week than you don't. That means that if you miss a day here and there, don't make it a pattern. If you consider what he is saying, there are seven days in a week, so four is hitting the more days mark, five is good, six is great and seven is revealing a commitment to the ALWAYS.

God doesn't expect perfection, but when we commit to his ALWAYS in our lives, we are also committing to his help in staying true to the ALWAYS. God never leaves us to accomplish his 'absolutes' on our own or in our own strength. He knows the feebleness of our willpower! He gives us encouragement to plant. Do we see immediate results when we plant? Nope. Do we trust the seed we plant will somehow be a blessing to us? Yup. Do we make that seed grow? Nope. But the consistency of watering it, giving it just the right amount of light and nourishment will help it grow. God's plan for us this year might just be to be faithful more days than we are not with whatever goal he has set before us. It is in those steps of being faithful more days than we are not that we will eventually hit the ALWAYS mark! Just sayin!