DIGGING DEEP NO. 923 – February 22, 2022 SHARING BLESSINGS Gal.6: 6- 10

From the very beginning of the church, sharing was one of the marks of Christian experience Acts.2: 41- 47. The teacher of the Word shares spiritual treasures, and those who are taught ought to share material treasures Rom.15: 27. We must remember that what we do with material things is evidence of how we value spiritual things for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt.6: 21). But we must realize the spiritual principle that lies behind this precept. God does not command believers to give simply that pastors and teachers and missionaries might have their material needs met, but that the givers might get a greater blessing Gal.6: 7- 8. The basic principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the entire Bible. But God has also told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Apostle Paul dealt with here. He looked on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. We can use our material goods to promote the flesh or to promote the things of the Spirit. But once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest. Money sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption Gal.5: 19- 21. That money is gone and can never be reclaimed. Money sown to the Spirit such as sharing with those who teach the Word will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest, and on and on into eternity. If every believer only looked on his material wealth as seed and planted it properly, there would be no lack in the work of the Lord. Sad to say, much seed is wasted on carnal things and can never bring glory to God. All that we do is either an investment in the flesh or the Spirit. We shall reap whatever we have sown, and we shall reap in proportion as have sown 2Cor.9: 6. The believer who walks in the Spirit and sows in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest.

Having given us the precept Gal.6: 6; and the principle behind the precept Gal.6: 7- 8, Apostle Paul now gave us a promise Gal.6: 9. In due season we shall reap if we do not faint. Behind this promise is a peril: getting weary, and then eventually fainting and stopping can rob us of our reward.

Sometimes spiritual fainting is caused by a lack of devotion to the Lord. How easy it is for us to permit the spiritual motivation to die Mal.1: 13. Sometimes we faint because of lack of prayer Lk.18: 1. Prayer is to the spiritual life what breathing is to the physical life; and if you stop breathing, you will faint. It is also possible to faint because of lack of nourishment Matt.4: 4. But the promise that the Bible gives us will help to keep us going; in due season we shall reap. The seed that is planted does not bear fruit immediately; we must give the seed time to take root and bear fruit. Each day we ought to sow the seed so that one day we will be able to reap Ps.126: 5- 6, and we must remember that the Lord of the harvest is in charge, and not the laborers.

Sharing blessings involves much more than teaching the Word and giving of our material substance. It also involves doing good unto all men Gal.6: 10. There are those in this world who do evil Ps.34: 16; There are those who return evil for good Ps.35: 12; Most people in the world return good for good and evil for evil Lk.6: 32- 35; 1Thes.5: 15, but Christians are supposed to return good for evil Rom.12: 18- 21. We are to do good unto all men, this is how we let our light shine and glorify our Father in heaven Matt.5: 16. It is not a question of asking, “does this person deserve my good works?” Did we deserve what God did for us in Christ Jesus? Nor should we be like the defense lawyer who tried to argue “Who is my neighbor?” Lk.10: 25- 37. Jesus made it very clear that the question is not “who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?” As we do good to all men, we must give priority to the household of faith. This does not mean that the local church should become an exclusive clique with the members isolated from the world around them; rather it is a matter of balance. Furthermore, a man always cares for his own family before he cares for the neighborhood 1Tim.5: 8. We share with other Christians so that all of us might be able to share with a needy world. A believer in the household of faith is a receiver that he might become a transmitter.

In Conclusion – As we abound in love for one another, we overflow in love for all men 1Thes.3: 12.