The Wages of Sin
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When you are working at a job you get paid for what you do. God is telling you that "as you have done it will be done to you". He is telling you "with what measure you measure it will be measured to you". Think about gangsters, they almost always die because of "payback" from some other gangster. Often the initiation is to go and shoot someone from another gang. The person never did anything to you and yet you go and shoot them. Well, don't complain if one day some gangster comes and shoots you even though you never did anything to them.
Now contrast that with a gift. You don't get a gift because you did some work, a genuine gift is not payback, nor does it expect a "quid pro quo". In the world their gifts all have strings attached.
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
This is similar to the wages of sin is death, only you can sow seeds to the spirit or to the flesh.
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.
Sowing to the flesh may not be the same as "sin". Perhaps you are simply watching a movie, or attending a show, or a concert, etc. Hollywood and the Music industry are also sowing seeds. These seeds will grow up and you will reap. But here is the beautiful thing, if you spend 15 minutes a day sowing to the spirit you will reap in due time. Suppose you read four chapters from the Bible every day, that is a sowing to the Spirit. Suppose while commuting to work you listen to worship music, that could be another 90 minutes a day sowing to the spirit. Maybe you go to three or four hours of meetings with the church, that is also sowing to the spirit. Perhaps you read the biography of a man or woman of God. That also is sowing to the Spirit.
For the first twenty years of my Christian life I did not have a TV. Think about it, when you are on your death bed do you think you will be regretting that you didn't watch more TV?
So there are two ways to tip the scales, you can cut off those activities that the Holy Spirit tells you are not beneficial. And you can spend more time doing those activities that you know are sowing to your spirit.
Very often I hear from people "there is nothing wrong with this". But that isn't the question. Is there anything right about it? Either you are sowing to your spirit or you aren't.
Now it may be that the Lord does want you to go fishing, it may be that the Lord does want you to take your family on a vacation camping. We are not talking about being religious and appearing to be holy. Simply being sensitive to the Lord's speaking. Let the Holy Spirit guide you, but if you are continually making excuses and saying things like "there is nothing wrong with this" then that tells me the Holy Spirit is talking to you and you are trying to ignore Him.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When you are working at a job you get paid for what you do. God is telling you that "as you have done it will be done to you". He is telling you "with what measure you measure it will be measured to you". Think about gangsters, they almost always die because of "payback" from some other gangster. Often the initiation is to go and shoot someone from another gang. The person never did anything to you and yet you go and shoot them. Well, don't complain if one day some gangster comes and shoots you even though you never did anything to them.
Now contrast that with a gift. You don't get a gift because you did some work, a genuine gift is not payback, nor does it expect a "quid pro quo". In the world their gifts all have strings attached.
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
This is similar to the wages of sin is death, only you can sow seeds to the spirit or to the flesh.
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.
Sowing to the flesh may not be the same as "sin". Perhaps you are simply watching a movie, or attending a show, or a concert, etc. Hollywood and the Music industry are also sowing seeds. These seeds will grow up and you will reap. But here is the beautiful thing, if you spend 15 minutes a day sowing to the spirit you will reap in due time. Suppose you read four chapters from the Bible every day, that is a sowing to the Spirit. Suppose while commuting to work you listen to worship music, that could be another 90 minutes a day sowing to the spirit. Maybe you go to three or four hours of meetings with the church, that is also sowing to the spirit. Perhaps you read the biography of a man or woman of God. That also is sowing to the Spirit.
For the first twenty years of my Christian life I did not have a TV. Think about it, when you are on your death bed do you think you will be regretting that you didn't watch more TV?
So there are two ways to tip the scales, you can cut off those activities that the Holy Spirit tells you are not beneficial. And you can spend more time doing those activities that you know are sowing to your spirit.
Very often I hear from people "there is nothing wrong with this". But that isn't the question. Is there anything right about it? Either you are sowing to your spirit or you aren't.
Now it may be that the Lord does want you to go fishing, it may be that the Lord does want you to take your family on a vacation camping. We are not talking about being religious and appearing to be holy. Simply being sensitive to the Lord's speaking. Let the Holy Spirit guide you, but if you are continually making excuses and saying things like "there is nothing wrong with this" then that tells me the Holy Spirit is talking to you and you are trying to ignore Him.