Wednesday, November 9, 2022 Some material taken from The Church I Want to Belong To
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Galatians 6:9-10
As the body of Christ, we are called to sow seeds, both individually and as a whole. Seeds take time to sprout. They take attention and consistent care to grow. And it takes perseverance to endure the process well, but in the end, there is fruit. But we must remember we may never see the fruit. The goal is that we glorify God with our lives and as a church – with our time, with our resources, and in our faith – and we continue to do good.
We should take every opportunity to do good. While we are waiting, we can keep from losing heart by taking every opportunity to do good! We are all sowing seed. Some seed we sow together in the body, but some seed we sow on our own in the body. We can continue to help when we can, show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ as we encourage them and lift them up in their journey. We persevere by encouraging each other to keep going.
If we are walking with Him, abiding in Him, we will always be thinking about Him and His work. We will be motivated to be a part of His work. There are always opportunities to do good in His name that are around us every day if we will be open to them. When we are obedient in this calling, lives will be touched, and some changed forever – including ours. My church is my family and I know many other believers feel that way as well. It is our place in His family to care for one another.
Doing good works does not come naturally or easily. We will be inconvenienced, and it will call for sacrifice of our resource and time, and again, we may not see fruit from our good works this side of heaven. When results are not immediately apparent, and it feels like what we are doing does not matter, we can lose heart. We may feel like our work is unproductive, unappreciated, or unrewarded. These feelings come when things do not happen the way we think they should. This kind of discouragement can cause us to abandon a task leaving it unfinished. It can cause us to become increasingly more discouraged which may cause us to hesitate to attempt anything again. To reap the full harvest of the good requires consistent and faithful effort.
Paul recognized an inescapable truth: well doing often produces emotional and physical exhaustion, which causes "burn-out." Like laundry at home that never seems to be all caught up, good works never seem to have a point of completion. Can we ever say that we have finished the work of evangelism? We will never be done with our job to share His story and love with others. This is a timeless assignment for His church.
In our perseverance of faith, we sow seeds and sow seeds and sow seeds. As a church we go through the motions of caring for those seeds while continuing to sow more seeds. Even as a whole body of Christ it can become wearying, but side by side, may we encourage each other, doing good to one another, as we journey along. May we remind each other of the promise of the full harvest and not lose heart in doing good. May we persevere in our faith together.
