Easter Sunday, during the early morning Sonrise Service, our brother Jeremy Schram preached a message that had been on my heart for some time. I love how the Lord uses others at just the right time to connect the dots on a message He has for us from His Word! His message was on the topic of “What Now?” Jesus, our Lord has defeated death, He is alive and seated at the right hand of God! So, what are the implications to Christians seeking to live out their faith each day until we meet face-to-face with our Savior in glory?
Brother Jeremy preached from Colossians 3: 1-4, encouraging the congregation to “seek the things that are above, not thing things that are on Earth.” If we are not careful, it is easy to become inundated by the “things that are on Earth.” Today, everyone is a “content creator” sharing their lives, opinions, beliefs, values, and problems with the rest of the world. If we become immersed in the multiple forms of media available, we risk becoming emotionally invested. This can lead to being emotionally spent, not leaving much energy or space in our minds to focus on the things that are above.
Galatians 5:16-24 reminds us to “walk by the Spirit,” thereby, not gratifying the “desires of the flesh.” These verses go on to contrast the works of the flesh: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these,” with the fruit of the spirit, “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Verse 24 concludes by stating, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
If we have crucified the flesh, why would we continue to walk in the works of the flesh? The answer is that we shouldn’t! We must continue to fill ourselves day-by-day with the living water we receive through Christ alone, through time spent in scripture and conversation with God through our prayers, through time loving and serving God and others, and through the fellowship and encouragement of our local body of believers. Only then will we have solid ground to stand on allowing us to be in the world, but not of the world, or as Ephesians 4:14 tells us, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
Unlike our Creator, we live our lives within the confines of a finite amount of time and how we use the time given to us is our choice. If we fill our time “seeking the things that are above” and walking in the fruit of the Spirit, we will naturally leave less time for the works of the flesh!
In Christ,
Scott King
Elder
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