Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV

Our former pastor used to tell us that we were not to judge, but we were to inspect the fruit. Our scripture passage today describes those who will not make it to heaven. It begins by telling us that the works of the flesh are evident. In other words, we can plainly see those that are indulging their fleshly desires. We are told in Galatians 5:16 if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. When we stick close to God and seek Him with our whole heart and ask Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit, we want to live in the way that He wants us to live. We want to be imitators of Christ (Ephesians 5:1).

But when we set out to do what we want to do, we end up fulfilling our fleshly desires which will literally destroy us in the end. Inheriting the kingdom of God means that we spend eternity in glory with our heavenly Father. This should be our goal as we are here on earth. We should be going about the work He has called us to do. We should fight against the works of the flesh described in our scripture passage today. I truly believe that we are in the end times. None of us know how much time we have left here on planet earth. It is urgent that we trust in God today and ask Him to remove all sin from us. It’s time for us to let go of our sin and let God rule our lives. It’s time to submit to Him.

Go through that list. Are you having issues with any type of sexual immorality including adultery. Are you unclean, are you living a sloppy, lazy life? Are you having issues with idolatry? Is there something or someone in your life that takes up the time you should be spending with God or doing God’s work? Are you dabbling in drugs or magic? Are you loving your neighbor as your love yourself or are you harboring hatred, envy and strife? Do you hold on to bitterness and contentions? Are you still prone to outbursts of anger? I still struggle with anger myself. My friend, these things will only weigh you down. You are not hurting those that you strike against, you are only hurting yourself. Trust me on this, I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt.

Are you stuck in your teen years where you still think it’s really cool to get drunk with your friends and make a complete fool of yourself? Is this worth forfeiting an awesome inheritance in God’s kingdom?

Pleasing our flesh temporarily here on earth is not worth losing our inheritance for eternity. Think about that one. Walking in the flesh here on earth could actually cause us to spend eternity in hell. No one in their right mind would choose to do that, right?

I beg of you, don’t let your fleshly desires separate you from a good, solid relationship with your Lord and Savior. Trust in God and allow Him to guide your path. Trust in Him to lead you to a life everlasting in His beautiful kingdom. Your inheritance awaits, don’t squander it on a life lived in the flesh.

Have a great day!