From the mouths of babes, Chapter 1.

I gave my four-year-old grandson a bath last week and watched as he happily played with his Little People bath toys. I noticed that he was stuffing them all in the rinsing cup until it was full. “Why are all the Little People in the cup?” I asked. “Oh,” he replied. “They’re in cup jail.” “Good heavens!” I said. “What did they do to be put in cup jail?” I asked. He looked me straight in the eye. “They made baaaad choices,” he responded solemnly.

Well, you just can’t argue with that.

My daughters are constantly advising their children to make good choices. When a bad choice seems to be asserting itself, they caution them to “make a better choice.” Even the four-year-old understands the consequences of bad choices.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, he gave the same parenting advice. Remember how much Paul loved his churches, and truly felt a parental responsibility for each one of them. Listen to what he says in this well-known warning about reaping and sowing.

Galatians 6:7-8 (Common English Bible)

⁷ Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant. ⁸ Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.

God pays attention to everything we say and do, and when those choices don’t fall in line with his word and his will for our lives, you can be sure there will be ramifications. I have a friend who spent a year denouncing an organization that she belonged to and basically burned every bridge on her way out. She returned to that organization recently and was hurt when someone asked her in surprise why she had come to the meeting. Reaping and sowing are basic to life. When you sow discord and rejection, you risk reaping discord and rejection.

Think for a moment about how you treat others. When you sow anger, discrimination, harsh words, and carelessness, these things will come back to you tenfold. Overindulgence in consuming things that are ultimately harmful to your body will result in actual harm to your body. Lying, cheating, and gossip often backfire and expose you to ridicule and alienation. Are these things worth the temporary pleasure?

A better choice is to sow the seeds of love and acceptance. A better choice is to choose healthy things for your body ,mind, and soul. A better choice is to plant seeds for the benefit of God’s kingdom. That will result in a harvest of eternal life and help you to avoid cup jail.

And trust me, you don’t want to end up in cup jail.

Harvesting Eternal Life by Michelle Robertson