Gardening Meditations on Galatians

By Matt Watson

“Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:6-10).

One day the other month, I was in my garden preparing the winter ground for a spring sowing. I still have clay to turn, invasive grasses to remove, and mulch and compost to spread. Having an eight-month-old, who is shockingly energetic compared to his old dad, makes this a chore that I’m already behind in. By God’s providence, I happened upon this verse while working and listening to the Bible, and thus meditated on this passage while doing the long, slow, plodding work of cultivation.

The Juice Isn’t Worth the Squeeze

First, beware of the mentality that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. I am not particularly disciplined. Even things I enjoy doing, at times, can feel like the effort isn’t worth doing the activity. These activities aren’t eternally significant in themselves, but they are in the sense of if you are faithful in the small things, then you are faithful in the big things (Luke 16:10). Thus, laziness does not have many steps before it becomes faithlessness, thinking that things of eternal significance are not worth the effort, or that the problem is so insurmountable that you can’t imagine Jesus actually doing anything about it. Faithlessness causes a despairing progression.

But Paul says here that if you have that mentality and cease to do good works by sowing to the Spirit then you will not reap good things because you gave up. Yes, making disciples is hard work. Yes, it is sometimes unrewarding. Yes, the world hates you. But Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Luther says, “For it is an easy matter for a man to do good once or twice; but to continue, and not be discouraged through the ingratitude and perverseness of those to whom he has done good, that is very hard. Therefore, he not only exhorts us to do good but also not to be weary in doing good.” (Luther 403).

Let us be glad that Jesus did not think that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze, grow weary, and cease doing his good work, else we would all still be dead in our sins. Likewise, do not grow weary and cease doing the good work of proclaiming the gospel so that the peoples, nations, and world will know Jesus and worship him.

What Type of Fruit Do You Produce?

This passage in Galatians about sowing and reaping is not unlike what Jesus says in Luke 6:43-45: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” The fruit you produce shows what kind of tree you are. Likewise, what you sow is what you will reap.

There are plants that produce good fruit that is wonderful to eat: avocados, tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, limes (basically the things needed for making guacamole), and so forth. But there are also plants that produce that which is not good: Poison ivy’s berries, hemlock, nightshade, and all other toxic plants. If what we produce determines what kind of tree we are, and if we sow what we produce from our fruit (as is how a fruit tree makes new fruit trees), then we need to make sure that what we produce is good.

Paul lists two kinds of fruit in Galatians chapter 5, fruit, or works of the flesh, and fruit of the Spirit. In verses 19-21 he says, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

There are some big-ticket items in that list that most of us would agree we have never done, and therefore we might dismiss it altogether as a nice statement we agree with but not one that particularly matters to us. However, let us not miss the “smaller” items that Paul mentions such as jealousy, fits of anger, sexual immorality, dissensions, divisions, and “things like these.” Surely we have all struggled with one of those, and Paul is saying that these are the types of things that are not produced by God, but by the flesh of man. Therefore, those who do these things, at least in a non-repentant and habitual way, will not inherit the kingdom of God. That isn’t to say that if you did sorcery only once you are good to go, but rather acknowledging we are sinners, and thus have sinned, but we do not continue in that sin.

Contrasted to these poison berries of the flesh are the good and delicious apples and pears of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). You know what is the opposite of jealousy, divisions, and dissensions? Love and patience. You know what is the opposite of fits of anger and sexual deviancy? Self-control and gentleness. Yes, we are saved by the grace of Jesus through faith which is not of our doing (Eph 2:8), but what we do matters, because, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).

Take Heart and Keep Doing Good

Therefore, those in the Spirit will produce good works that are good fruit and will sow that good fruit, and reap more good fruit. We cannot grow tired of making disciples of Jesus, no matter how hard the ground or how hot the climate of the unbelieving world is. We must endure, praying for opportunities to have gospel conversations with our friends, family, neighbors, and even enemies, sowing seeds of Christ in them. Likewise, we must not grow weary of watering, cultivating the rocky soil, removing the weeds that threaten to choke out the seedlings, protecting the seeds from Satan’s grackles and crows who would devour them, and nurturing the tender plants that they may withstand environmental pressures. Cultivation is lifelong, and it is slow, plodding work. But Jesus is faithful and his word will not return void (Isa 55:11), so you can take heart and keep doing good.