Lord’s Day Meditation – We Shall Reap

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Gal. 6:9).

The above verse contains a needed exhortation and a golden promise. We could perhaps outline the text this way:

I. The Peril for Today

1. That we will grow weary
2. That we will lose heart
3. That we will cease doing good (implied)

II. The Promise for Tomorrow

1. That there is a “due season” of harvest
2. That we shall reap (both fruit and rewards)
3. That we can finish well (implied)

Do not become weary, discouraged or disheartened. Do not lose heart, give up, or quit. Instead, keep on doing good, keep on serving the Lord. Why? Because there will be a time of wonderful harvest in due season, at God’s appointed time.

Yet we recognize there is a weariness and discouragement in Christian service. Sometimes, it is because we see little of the eternal fruit we’d hoped for. But it may also be for less noble reasons. That we grow impatient with people who show less spiritual insight than we believe we do. Or bitter because our efforts and gifts are not appreciated as we think they should be.

First, we would do well to examine our hearts for unrealistic expectations or some selfish motivation. But if our hearts are in tune with God’s heart, there can still be weariness and discouragement. It is part of ministry by imperfect people in an imperfect world. But we must see that we do not give up and quit in the face of it. Faithful service will have its reward. God has promised it. The harvest will come at the proper time (cf. I Cor. 15:58; II Thess. 3:13; Jas. 5:7).

In the words of John Thompson’s 1885 hymn:

Far and near the fields are teeming
With the waves of ripened grain;
Far and near their gold is gleaming
O’er the sunny slope and plain.

O thou, whom thy Lord is sending,
Gather now the sheaves of gold;
Heavenward then at evening wending
Thou shalt come with joy untold.