8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
This follows up on the readings of the past few days. What do we want out of life, what do we want when we die?
If all we want is pleasure and we don’t care how we get it, then we will be judged accordingly on the last day. When we live our lives in accordance with the Gospel, we are doing the will of the Father and will be rewarded with eternal life, earned for us by Jesus.
There was a story written by Oscar Wilde in the 1800’s called The Picture of Dorian Gray. This novel was about an innocent man who was very beautiful. His friend painted a picture of him. He was introduced to a man who set about corrupting him and little by little his life was one of self-indulgence and pleasure. He took great pleasure in looking at the picture and admiring himself. As time went on, and Dorian’s behavior worsened, the picture changed, showing the effects of his cruelty and disregard of others. At the end of the novel, he looks at the picture and is horrified by what he sees. He decides to destroy the picture so that others won’t be able to see it. However, when he tries to destroy it, a loud crash summons the maid who sees the picture as it originally was, and the body of Dorian bearing the scars of his lifetime of sin.
We may or may not see the effects of our behavior on our faces, but God sees who we are, and how we have lived. It’s our choice: do we live by the flesh or do we live by the Spirit?
All-knowing God, you created us with gifts to benefit others. You know the person we are meant to be. Although we don’t always know the path you want us to follow, we do know that it is a path of love for others. May we always stay true to you, and use our gifts wisely as you would want. Amen.
