We understand today that selective breeding in livestock and careful pollination in agriculture can produce remarkable improvements in the quality of plants and animals. By selecting the strongest and healthiest stock, farmers can develop superior generations of cattle, horses, and sheep. The result may be better beef, greater milk production, finer wool, stronger animals, and healthier offspring. In agriculture, careful cultivation and pollination practices can likewise improve the quality, size, and productivity of fruits and vegetables.
There is an important biblical principle that invites our consideration. In Deuteronomy 22:9, God instructed Israel not to sow different kinds of seed together in their vineyard, lest the fruit of the seed they had sown be defiled. Leviticus 19:19 similarly prohibited the mixing of different kinds of livestock, seed, and fabrics.
These instructions belonged to the covenant regulations given to Israel, but they also provide an opportunity to consider a broader spiritual truth: God’s people must be careful about what they allow to become mixed with their devotion to Him.
The danger is not simply association with the world, but the gradual adoption of its values, ambitions, and standards. When the principles of Christ become intermingled with the thinking of a godless culture, the distinctiveness of Christian living begins to disappear. The world has its own philosophy of success, its own definition of morality, and its own measures of importance. Those things are not always compatible with the character of Christ.
Paul warned the Corinthians, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). He also asked, “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
The Christian is not called to withdraw from every contact with unbelievers. Jesus Himself associated with sinners, and He came into the world to seek and save the lost. Rather, we must distinguish between reaching the world with the gospel and allowing the world to reshape our hearts.
We cannot continually sow the world’s philosophies into the soil of our hearts and expect to harvest the fruit of the Spirit. We cannot cultivate compromise and expect holiness to flourish.
The lesson is worth remembering: Be in the world, but do not become of the world. Let Christ determine what grows in the garden of your heart. The harvest of a faithful life depends greatly upon the seed we choose to sow.
BDD
