sowing & reaping

So its been a few days since I blogged - being away from both internet access and the space to pause and think about something to say. The last few days I've been thinking about the kingdom principle of 'sowing and reaping'.

I've been using "Leadership Jesus Way" material at our small group entitled "living life God's way" that has been adapted from Dennis Peacock's teaching. It has a different commitment for each day of the week. Wednesday's commitment is this:

"I am committed to accept full responsibility for my actions and reactions as we strategically plant the crops of life."

At the end of the day I shouldn't be surprised by the 'crops' I reap in my life....if I take time to look at what I've been sowing - the crop will be the fruit from those seeds. The thoughts, attitudes and actions I operate in today will determine tomorrow's crops.

Now I'm no gardener, but I understand weeds well. If weeds are left unattended they will quietly and quickly take over the whole garden and they become the dominant plant. Some will actually choke other plants trying to grow. The best way to deal with weeds (besides concrete of course) is to deal with them quickly, regularly and carefully. Don't let them have time to take root....when removing them, take care...you never know what they've tangled their roots around.

In my life I need to deal quickly, regularly and carefully with the negative things that are in my life. If I allow them time and space to take root they will begin to take over and choke the life out of the good things in my life. I am attempting to try and deal with my attitudes as soon as I can, not allowing those negative attitudes to take root.

Scripture says "in your anger do not sin". Many people think this means that anger in itself is a negative thing. However I understand anger to be a secondary emotion - produced because of another emotion (ie I feel anger because I feel betrayed, hurt, jealous...). It is not the anger that is the problem but what we do while angry that the bible is warning us about. I was recently in a position of feeling angry about a circumstance. Part of what was going on was that I was surprised by the anger I was feeling and I felt I needed time to process with Jesus what was triggering this response so that I could 'deal with it'. I had a couple of people try and talk to me about the situation straight away - my response was "I can't do this right now - I can't talk about it" and I needed to walk away. Now some might say that was a wrong response, I should have simply smiled and said "no worries mate". But I knew enough about how I was feeling to know that it had the potential to be a situation where I would say something I would regret, causing damage to relationships and to the well being of the other people concerned. For me, it came down to "in your anger do not sin".

Did I handle the situation perfectly...absolutely not. But Jesus has used it as an opportunity for learning and growth for me. I have been able to see some 'seeds'that I had allowed to take root rather than deal with quickly.

This principle is so vital to the life of a dynamic disciple. The Holy Spirit is key to helping us take this principle and making it a life message - one that is shared by living it.