In early 2013, a man was arrested for stealing his father’s corpse. The man’s 93-year-old beloved dad had died and his body had been laid in a casket and placed on cemetery grounds, being readied for burial. The son of the deceased, however, had other plans. He stole the casket and brought it home. The reason? He was hoping his father would be miraculously resurrected. Um, that didn’t happen. Instead of seeing his dad’s life restored, the man reaped possible imprisonment and the death of a dream.

In Galatians 6, the apostle Paul describes the life or death that each of us will reap. Noting that we “cannot mock the justice of God,” he states, “You will always harvest what you plant” (Galatians 6:7). In other words, based on what we do in this life, we’ll either face His eternal rewards or our own bitter consequences (Job 4:8; Proverbs 22:8).

Paul says that if we live to fulfill our own sinful desires, we’ll “harvest decay and death” (Galatians 6:8). If we willfully choose to continue in our sin, our lives will be marked by spiritual death. Our fellowship with God will fall into decay.

We can’t transform a lifeless corpse into a vibrant, living person. If we “live to please the Spirit,” however, we will “harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (Galatians 6:8). When we turn to God and receive Jesus as our Savior, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. His life-giving power is found within us (Galatians 3:3, Galatians 5:16).

Paul concludes his thoughts by encouraging us to live out our life in Jesus by doing good. One day, he says, “we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Today, you can choose to pursue life or death. Turn from your sin and let the Spirit do good things in and through you.

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Romans 8:19-39