‘Tis Always the Season for Sowing and Reaping

Here many of us are in the dead of winter, gazing at barren tree limbs, dormant flower beds and maybe even a coating of snow on the ground. Because of this, most of us probably aren’t giving a lot of thought to things like planting flowers or vegetable gardens. But one doesn’t need a green thumb to be actively engaged in the process of sowing and reaping year-round.

Recently I was reminded of this while reading a familiar quote tagged at the end of a friend’s email. It read:

Sow a thought, and you reap an act.

Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character.

Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

 

This isn’t talking about little seeds and different forms of vegetation; it concerns something much more important. It’s about the little things we do each day which don’t seem to matter, but if cultivated, repeated and nurtured over time, make a dramatic difference in the course of one’s life.

One example many of us can easily relate to is snacking at night. My wife and I will be watching TV, only an hour or so after eating a hearty dinner, and I’m thinking, ‘What can I eat?’ It’s often because I’m seeing folks on the TV screen eating something, or I’ve just viewed a commercial about potato chips or some fast-food restaurant. My stomach is still full, but suddenly, I’m “hungry.”

 

If this were just a one-time or occasional occurrence, it wouldn’t be a problem. But it happens night after night, same scenario. I had the thought initially, then I acted on it. When I acted on it again, it started to turn into a habit. If the habit becomes a dominating part of life, it affects my character. Then, potentially, it can affect my destiny.

 

We could apply this behavioral progression to many things, ranging from spending practices to alcoholism to viewing salacious content on the computer. Name the controlling behavior and you can bet it started as a simple thought, advanced into an act, turned into a habit, slowly shaped a character and then, perhaps, transformed into a destiny. From a negative perspective, that’s how addictions are created.

 

“You reap what you sow,” it’s said. But in truth, we reap much more than we sow. Whoever planted a kernel of corn with the intention of reaping just one more kernel of corn? Or placed a tomato plant in a garden with hopes of it producing a single tomato?

 

The key, it seems, is not to steer clear of the sowing and reaping principle, but to be cautious about what it is we’re sowing. This is one reason Proverbs 4:23 warns us to, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” What are your affections? What are those things that dominate your thoughts and attention?

 

In Proverbs we find several passages that deal with sexual temptation, with good reason. While they’re directed toward younger men, these warnings apply equally to men and women. After observing that, “The lips of an adulteress drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword,” the writer sternly warns, “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house…. At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent” (Proverbs 5:3-11). A grim image, for sure.

 

The Ten Commandments are viewed by some as a series of do’s and don’ts, rules and regulations handed down by a spoilsport deity. But in reality, they’re guidelines for successful, joyous living. They prescribe for us where we should direct our hearts – and where we shouldn’t. If we ever wonder, “How should I guard my heart?” the commandments provide answers.

 

As recorded in Exodus 20:1-17, commandments 1-4 address our relationship with God, making Him the foremost priority of our lives: Have no gods other than the one true God. Don’t worship idols. Don’t misuse or profane God’s name. Designate a day for rest and renewal, just as He rested after His six days of creation.

 

The remaining commandments concern our relationships with others, including our parents, neighbors and strangers. The sixth commandment instructs “Do not murder,” a teaching Jesus later clarified in His “sermon on the mount” to include harboring angry, destructive thoughts toward others. “You have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘Do not murder,’ and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-26).

 

Commandments 7-10 address adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting the possessions of another. In each case, these are actions that most likely don’t arise from random impulses, but have followed the pattern of sowing first a thought, then an act, then a habit, which shaped a character, and perhaps led to the formation of a destiny.

 

So, while gazing from the warmth of our homes at a cold, bleak outdoors, it would be wise to remember that we’re still cultivating, sowing and reaping. Are we guarding our hearts by following Jesus’ admonition to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… [and] love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31), or are we sowing negative actions and habits that will result in regretful consequences?

Build a New Habit: Developing Better, Healthier Habits

When I used to bowl regularly years ago, I would occasionally roll a high score – in the low 200s – but couldn’t do that on a consistent basis. I was stuck with averages between 130 and 140. The reason was simple: I kept doing the same thing the same way, expecting different results. To become a better bowler, I needed to change my form and technique.

It's much the same for just about every area of life. In our most honest moments, we admit there are things in our lives we would like to change, but we fail to take steps necessary to bring about those changes. As has often been said in a similar way, if you keep doin’ what you’ve been doin’, you’re gonna keep gettin’ what you’ve been gettin’. 

 

So how do we bring about the changes we would like to experience? I like what consultant Tim Kight has to say: “Your habits are perfectly designed to get the results they’re getting. If you want different results, you must build new habits.”

 

He’s right. For instance, if someone is overweight and out of shape due to not eating properly and not exercising, just reading books about getting healthy and sitting in a recliner watching exercise videos won’t help. The best of intentions are worthless if not followed by appropriate action. 

 

Like many of us, my own physical health has suffered a bit due to the COVID restrictions. My regimen of exercising at least three times a week virtually disappeared over the past year, and I have to admit it’s been too easy to indulge on good-tasting snacks. So one of my goals this year is to form new habits – actually, to return to some old, better habits. As I write this, I’m preparing to head back to the Y (taking the prescribed precautions) and cut back on the pound-packing snack foods.

 

As it says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” This doesn’t mean the Lord wants us to build bigger temples!

 

There are some other habits in my life I need to either change, or revisit. These include my spiritual life. Over the past year, despite what I had intended, my daily time with the Lord wasn’t as consistent as it should have been. I allowed too many distractions to get in the way. So I’m resuming a good, old habit: Reading through the Bible over the course of this year, using a daily schedule I’ve found very helpful in the past.

 

Two passages immediately come to mind as I think about this. Writing to his protégé, Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Another is Psalm 119:9, 11, which says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word…. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might sin against you.” I’m not a young man anymore, but the principle has no age limitations. The only way to live as God intended is for us to know and apply His Word in everything we do.

 

It goes back to recognizing when we’ve developed bad or unproductive habits, and determining to replace them with good, more fruitful ones. But habits aren’t established in a day or even a week. You know the old saying, “Practice makes perfect”? Well, that’s not exactly true. Because if we keep practicing by doing things the wrong way, we won’t become “perfect.” We’ll only become adept at doing things wrong – like my old bowling habits. 

 

We need to understand that, Perfect practice makes perfect. Whether in trying to get better at a sport, playing a musical instrument, building stronger relationships, or establishing a more fruitful, growing walk with the Lord, we need to learn how to do things the right way – and then keep doing them, every day.

 

As Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to follow me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ is not something we can do once a week or whenever the mood strikes us. It’s got to be a daily commitment, a determination to deny self and everyday distractions; in effect, dying to ourselves. That’s a habit well worth cultivating through perfect practice.

‘But We’ve Always Done It That Way!”

Why are there always three wise men in the Nativity scene?

There’s a story about an aging monk that had a pet cat. The feline was fine, except when its owner was engaging in silent meditation. Then its constant meowing and rubbing up against his leg was distracting, disrupting his spiritual reflection. So he decided to tie it to a tree during his quiet times. When he was finished, the monk would release the cat and bring it back into his room.

Time passed and one day the monk died, leaving behind his pet. His fellow monks dutifully continued to care for the cat just as their deceased brother had done. One day the cat also died; the monks obtained another cat to replace it in the dead monk’s memory. As they had with the other cat, once a day they would tie it to a tree.

When asked why they were doing that, the men of the holy order replied, “That’s what Brother Jerome always did. We never asked him why, but we don’t want to ruin his tradition.”

It’s been said that the seven last words of the church are, “But we’ve always done it that way!” Many traditions and practices are well-considered and worth perpetuating, but sometimes rituals are repeated simply out of habit (no pun on the monk story), without any good reason.

For instance: Orders of service that never change. The same types of music always being played, without variation. The same version of the Bible always being read without question. Sacraments performed on the same Sunday of each month. Identical prayers being repeated. Maybe the same Christmas program every year; the only changes being who fills the key roles of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. Having three wise men in the Nativity scene, even though most likely the Magi didn’t arrive in Bethlehem until months after Jesus was born – and no one knows for certain there were three of them. 

It’s like Heather, who routinely would cut the ends off the Christmas ham while preparing it for her family’s holiday dinner. One day her husband, Henry, asked, “Honey, why do you cut the ends of the ham before putting it in the oven?” “Well,” she responded, “that’s the way my mom always did it.”

The next Christmas the family went to Heather’s mom’s for dinner, and as expected, her mother cut the ends off the ham before putting in to bake. Henry seized the opportunity to ask, “Mom, that’s what Heather does – cuts the ends off the ham before baking it. Why do you do it?” The mother-in-law replied, “That’s what I learned from my mother.”

As it happened, Grandma was joining them for dinner, so after she arrived, Henry couldn’t wait to pop the question. “Grandma Harriet, why do you cut the ends of the Christmas ham?” Without blinking an eye, she answered, “Well, early on as a young bride, I only had a small baking pan, and the hams were always too big. So I cut off the ends so the ham would fit into it.”

Traditions and rituals are good, as long as their practice remains useful and purposeful. But to maintain them simply because “we’ve always done that way before” isn’t a very good reason. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

This suggests that time might one day come to end, when the “season” for a certain tradition has drawn to a close. It’s true even for our spiritual rituals, like a daily prayer or quiet time. Must they always take place at a specific time and/or place? When we study the Bible, do we follow the same routine, never bothering to “mix it up” and experiment with a new approach? If we ask a blessing before meals, do we use the same words every time? Do we always need to sit in the same spot during the worship service?

As long as these practices continue to enhance our walk with God, there’s probably no reason to change. But as devotional writer Oswald Chambers stated, let’s make sure they constitute our time with the Lord – and not just our time with our habit.

Pulling Pesky, Pernicious, Problematic ‘Weeds’

Green thumbs I don’t have. Nor do I claim a love for gardening even in the most generic sense, but I’ve still made some observations to pass along. (You don’t have to be a credentialed airline pilot to observe that jets fly fast and high, do you?)

Some parts of the country have endured severe rains and flooding, but we’ve had little rain in our area. Lawns are brown, parched flowers are panting, and real gardeners labor to keep plants from giving up the ghost. Weeds, on the other hand, have been faring very well.

That’s the crazy thing – you can do everything possible to nurture flowerbeds or cultivate a thick, green lawn, and your efforts might still go for naught. Nothing works. But weeds, those pesky, pernicious, problematic misfits of nature, need no help. They grow regardless of temperature, moisture or other conditions. Killing or even containing them is a full-time job.

The other day hydrangeas in front of our house were wondering, “When is summer over?” and other greenery was clearly in the throes of a hydration crisis. That is, except for the weeds – which I don’t recall planting. They seemed unfazed by the dryness. I yanked up as many as I could spot, but when I looked back, more had already sprung up.

Habits are kind of like that. Good habits – such as working diligently; exhibiting patience; speaking with kindness; being generous; striving to remain healthy both physically and mentally; or being a compassionate, understanding spouse or parent – all take energy and determination. But behavioral “weeds” – bad habits – require no effort to grow.

When was the last time you saw a parent telling a child, “Now, Honey, here is how you become angry and fly off the handle uncontrollably”? Or a wife instructing her husband, “Let me show you how to become insensitive and uncaring toward me”? No one ever said, “I am now going to do everything in my power to become an alcoholic,” or “I think becoming addicted to Internet porn would be a good idea.” The “weeds” of negative, even destructive habits or behaviors appear and take root without any planning on our part.

Why does it seem that when presented with the alternative of good habits or bad, we have a natural bent toward things detrimental for ourselves and others?

The Bible offers some answers, even if we don’t like to hear them. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Confirming that wasn’t some sort of misprint in the original writings, Romans 3:10-12 declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understandings, no one who seeks God. All have turned away…there is no one who does good, not even one.” To state it another way, we all have more than our share of bad habits and unhealthy behavior – and they’re awfully hard to overcome.

So what’s the solution? Do we simply ignore or even deny our failings, what the Scriptures term “sins”? Or should we offer the excuse, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace,” and accept wrong behavior as our everyday default setting?

Not at all. Like weeds, bad habits and unproductive behavior can be overcome, but only with great resolve and perseverance. And just as we can apply weed killer to destroy unwelcome plants, God promises the necessary resources to dispense with spiritual weeds.

Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Along the same lines, the apostle Paul pointed out – drawing from personal experience – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). To triumph over our “weeds,” we need Jesus’ power.

This doesn’t mean we sit back passively and wait for God to “clean up our act.” We carry responsibility in the process, too. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).

The first step toward recovery for an addict of any kind is recognizing there’s a problem. Our first step spiritually must be acknowledging and confessing we have a sin problem. Once we’ve done that, we can prayerfully ask God to empower us to overcome our sins, to extricate the “weeds” infesting our lives. Then we resist temptation, seeking to replace bad habits with good ones.

We can also enlist others to support us in this difficult, even painful process. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Because, as Proverbs 27:17 assures us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man (or woman) sharpens another.” Happy weeding!