Hang On! part 3

There was a man who committed his life to Jesus two Sundays ago - let's call him Scott. God has now set Scott on a right path, but for Scott, it’s going to be that of merely maintaining the status quo: just doing the right things over and over and over (that is truly a part of the discipleship journey). Things like pay your rent on time, buy your food, live your life in the fear of God, and let HIM decide when you will reap your harvest.   

The various consistencies in our lives determine the kind of fruit we will bear. Galatians 5:16-17 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.”  Walk by the Spirit! Live your life according to the directives of the Spirit of God, rather than your flesh. This is normal Christian living. This should be the status quo for all of us.

But we are in a battle. The flesh and the Spirit are contrary to each other and that is where the conflict comes in. Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” How many of us can identify with one or two of those things in our own lives? Who can’t identify with selfish ambitions and envy? What about dissensions - anybody want to argue that point?

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.” This is the kind of fruit your life (our lives) will bear, when you (we) walk according to the Spirit of God rather than the flesh. This is the fruit of repentance John was referring to when he told the Pharisees they were not living right.

Obviously, the average Christian would rather have their life full of love, joy, and peace, than immorality, idolatry, and fits of rage. So then, staying the course is the conflict we all face. Jesus’ point to John was that God had stayed the course, setting things right, for centuries to finally bring the human race to the point of Christ’s baptism. Can you imagine how important it is for us as parents to stay the course for our children’s sake?!
 
What if all of your life, you toil, labor, and sweat, with very little results, until one day something happens when God finally says, “Now you are going to reap. Because you did not faint in the day of adversity you will reap a harvest.” Maybe that harvest is the salvation of your child. Maybe that harvest is the spread of the Gospel to some foreign land through your giving, or your own children. John the Baptist spent his whole life in the wilderness, preparing for one primary moment, when he baptized the Son of God.     

Continued tomorrow