GALATIANS 6:9 – “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

THEME OF THE DAY: WHEN WE GET WEARY.  It is a fact.  If we are going to meet the criteria of being a disciple of Jesus, it will be costly – Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). To deny oneself, subject ourselves to the suffering of daily cross-bearing, and the raging war of suppressing our flesh to obey the Lord are not small sacrifices without heavy cost.

And what is the cost? Weariness.  We will experience fatigue, sleeplessness, exhaustion, and that emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  It was for Jesus and has been for all the followers of Him who want to be obedient and make a difference during their short time on the earth.  Oh, we don’t have to. We can be lukewarm, live worldly, and seek a Christianity of convenience which is really not Christianity.  But this choice is costly too; lukewarm heart, discontent, the displeasure of the Lord, worldliness, joylessness, and a life of conforming to external conduct of a Christian but lacking the inward reality of the Lord Jesus who is Christianity.

So, we accept the fact implied in today’s scripture that to follow Christ biblically is going to bring upon us fatigue, weariness, even exhaustion as we live by the Lord’s priorities, desires, and commands.  The Apostle Paul’s exhortation not to grow weary also contains a motive to ensure we maintain a zealous life of costly service for the Lord – “for in due season we will reap, if we don’t give up”.

What is the reaping the Apostle Paul refers to?  The picture is one of farming so we would not be wrong to point to fruit or a harvest from our labors.  However, that doesn’t mean we will see it in our lifetime. We might have to wait till Judgment Day.  But there is another way to look at this reaping.  It is a what I believe is the greatest sustainer of costly service for the Lord Jesus.

Ponder this.  The Lord calls us home.  We are ushered into His Presence. We stand before our Creator and Redeemer.  We fall on our face before Him.  Then, He touches our shoulder. We raise our head. Our eyes lock onto His.  He smiles, and here are the first words from Jesus’ mouth to us – “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21).

The look on His face and to hear those words will be so encouraging and any sacrifice we made in this life will seem, and be, so small when we see the marks of His sacrifice for us on His body!  Think often of this encounter and especially when we grow weary and tempted to “cut corners” or “throw in the towel.”

PRAYER: Lord, thank You that Your joy is my strength when I have none on my own.

REFLECTION: Every sacrifice for Christ, His Gospel, and others will be worth it when we see the Lord.