October 8Be not deceived … he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting — Gal. 6:7, 8.
We sow to the flesh every time we allow the fleshly, selfish, unjust, unrighteous desires of the flesh to have sway in our hearts and lives, and each sowing makes easier the additional sowing and makes more sure the end of that way which is death—the Second Death. On the contrary, each sowing to the Spirit, each resistance to the desires of the flesh toward selfishness, etc., and each exercise of the new mind, of the new will, in spiritual directions toward the things that are pure, the things that are noble, the things that are good, the things that are true, is a sowing to the Spirit, which will bring forth additional fruits of the Spirit, graces of the Spirit, and which, if persevered in, will ultimately bring us in accord with the Lord's gracious promises and arrangements—everlasting life and the Kingdom—Z '04, 57 (R 3321). As he deceives himself who sows natural seed of a certain kind and expects to reap a crop of another kind; so he deceives himself who sows a figurative seed of one kind and expects to reap a symbolic crop of another kind. Like produces like. Therefore if one who has received the holy Spirit sows to the flesh, he deceives himself, if he expects to reap of the Spirit. He will from his fleshly sowing reap a fleshly harvest eventuating in death. Consolatory to us is the fixity of the law that a spiritual sowing will produce a spiritual harvest. If, therefore, we sow to the Spirit—faithfully study, spread and practice spiritual things, we will experience no disappointment, for our harvest will be eternal life—P '36, 110. Parallel passages: Job 4:8; Prov. 11:18; 22:8; Hos. 8:7; 10:12; Rom. 8:1, 6, 7, 12-14; 6:6; 7:22, 23; 13:14; Gal. 5:16, 17; 2 Cor. 9:6; Heb. 6:10; John 4:14; Jude 1:18-21; 1 Pet. 2:11; Eph. 4:22-24. Hymns: 192, 4, 47, 74, 78, 196, 198. Poems of Dawn, 75: Transverse and Parallel. Tower Reading: Z '15, 108 (R 5665). Questions: What have been this week's sowings? In what did they result? How could they be improved? |
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TRANSVERSE AND PARALLEL
MY will, dear Lord, from Thine doth run
Too oft a different way;
'Tis hard to say, "Thy will be done,"
In every darkened day!
My heart longs still to do Thy will
And all Thy Word obey.
My will sometimes would gather flowers;
Thine blights them in my hand;
Mine reaches for life's sunny hours;
Thine leads through shadow land;
And many days go on in ways
I cannot understand.
Yet more and more this truth doth shine
From failure and from loss:
The will that runs transverse from Thine
Doth thereby make its cross;
Thine upright will cuts straight and still
Through pride, and dream, and dross.
But if in parallel to Thine
My will doth meekly run,
All things in heaven and earth are mine;
My will is crossed by none;
Thou art in me, and I in Thee:
Thy will and mine are done.
MY will, dear Lord, from Thine doth run
Too oft a different way;
'Tis hard to say, "Thy will be done,"
In every darkened day!
My heart longs still to do Thy will
And all Thy Word obey.
My will sometimes would gather flowers;
Thine blights them in my hand;
Mine reaches for life's sunny hours;
Thine leads through shadow land;
And many days go on in ways
I cannot understand.
Yet more and more this truth doth shine
From failure and from loss:
The will that runs transverse from Thine
Doth thereby make its cross;
Thine upright will cuts straight and still
Through pride, and dream, and dross.
But if in parallel to Thine
My will doth meekly run,
All things in heaven and earth are mine;
My will is crossed by none;
Thou art in me, and I in Thee:
Thy will and mine are done.
