And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9 KJV
The Charge:
Doing good can come at a cost. There are no guarantees that those who you do good to will recognize or appreciate it. There is even no assurance that you might get into trouble for it, or that the person you have done some good to will not turn around and repay you with evil. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, there is no end or limit to the depravity of man, or man's inhumanity to another man. However, one thing is clear here: God is not asking me to live my life on the basis of another person's response or reaction to the good I do; I am to keep on doing good because it is all I have. A man gives whatever he has; you cannot place a demand for something you have not first stored up. I do good because the good God lives in me, and my life is a daily expression of that good wherever I go.
The encouragement is to keep on; not to get weary. Yes, words hurt. Indeed, actions can be mean, and rejection can be hard to process, but there is an end to all we see down here. There is nothing this world offers that is guaranteed to last forever, so whilst I still have the breath of God in me, I must keep doing the good I know how to. Do not forget: the focus is on well doing, not on retaliation or revenge. If I am only focused on getting even when others hurt me, I am pulling myself away from the grace that is freely available in God. God will not demand of me that which He has not supplied grace for, so if He asks me to do it, it is because I have been given the strength and grace to do it. I do not need to depend on my clout, wisdom or ability anymore; God's grace is more than sufficient for all of life's demands.
The Conviction:
There is a reward at the end of the labour. This is also part of God's nature; He is fair. He knows all I do as well as the motives behind whatever I do. I cannot deceive Him with hypocrisy, eye-service or pretence. There is a due season coming for each one of us. Nobody knows the exact day and time of his or her own due season, but it will come. That due season comes with a reward for perseverance in doing good. I note that the reward here isn't so much for just any action, but for staying the course and being faithful to the good I have been called to do. This is not a congregational blessing, but an individual one where all of us must work out with God's help. If I hold on, I get the reward. God's grace is abundantly available; would you take advantage of what He offers? God's time of favour is here.
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