To prevent the frustration of falling behind, which most of us tend to do when following a Bible reading plan, each month of this plan gives you only twenty-five readings. Today we start a few “free days” . We encourage you to catch up on any readings you may have missed this month.
If you have finished the month’s readings, you can use these final days of the month to study the passages that challenged or intrigued you.
Daily Devotion
Galatians 6:7-10 (NLT)
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 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. 9 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. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Trying to walk a set apart and holy lifestyle in the society we live in, can at times be exceedingly challenging. For me the greatest struggles and frustration can come from what I see around me everyday, especially when it seems like no matter how zealous my efforts, my light is making no dent in the darkness. But what I see in the physical isn’t always the reality when it comes to what God is doing spiritually and supernaturally.
My default setting is to be an introvert, so when I begin to feel like my efforts to be a witness are in vain, at times I struggle with wanting to just retreat into my shell and ignore the voice of God when it prompts me to step out in faith and speak a word of faith or encouragement to the people I come in contact with during my daily life. It’s at those moments of frustration that I have to remind myself of what Paul writes in Galatians 6. We shouldn’t be making an effort to do good and live righteously or attempting to share the Gospel simply to reap reward for our good deeds. No, we should be living our life as God calls us to, because we want to please Him and be obedient to His word.
Living a holy lifestyle isn’t about acting a certain way in order to be rewarded, its about removing ourselves from the actions and behaviors that could be detrimental to our spiritual growth. We don’t witness and share the Gospel simply to count heads on Sundays and add numerical value to our church attendance. We preach the Gospel, because it is the only message that can save a soul from eternal disaster.
So we must not get weary or tired in well doing, as the scripture tells us. Even in the tough times. In the most trying situations in our lives, we never know who is watching. We never know who can be impacted for good, because we were willing to keep fighting the good fight as our world was falling apart around us. The example set by your willingness to keep on living as God has called you to live, could be what makes the difference in causing a co-worker, family member or friend to be open to receiving the Gospel message of Jesus when the time is right for them.
Galatians 6:9 (NLT) 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.
~Jesse Sanders