Works of the Flesh
Result in Inappropriate Worship
When did true
worship start and what made it stop?
When Adam was in Paradise, his worship of God was perfect. He spent time with God. God would bring him animals He made and Adam
would name them (Gen. 2). When Adam fell
his worship was marred (Gen. 3). There was no longer the same free, frank
fellowship with God and no longer the reverence. Sin entered the world and we like Adam are
sinners (1 John 1:18). Sin mars our
worship of God (2 Cor. 6:14).
Gal. 5:19-21 give a
list of “the lusts of the flesh” we participate in since Adam’s fall. If we are truthful with ourselves we will
find something on the list we have participated in. Granted, most of us have not committed
murder. Or have we? “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer:
and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15 KJV) Have you ever hated someone? Then God calls you a murderer.
Let’s examine
another item from the list, one we can say for sure we have never
committed. How about witchcraft? The dictionary states that witchcraft
is: holding converse with the dead,
possessed by an evil spirit, having a spirit of divination, soothsayers, using
chemicals and drugs. Now I know we all
feel as if we have not been into this as believers, or have we? Have you ever taken something to make you
feel good or to escape from the stress you are under? How about drinking alcohol? How about prescription drugs in a way they
were not prescribed? If you have you are
practicing witchcraft. Have you ever
watched Ghost Whisperer, Harry Potter, or other television shows and movies
that have witchcraft content? If you have, you are being entertained by
witchcraft.
How about
idolatry? Surely we can state that we
have never bowed down to a stone statue.
Here the dictionary states that idolatry is: the worship of a physical object as a god,
immoderate or over attachment or devotion to something. “Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun (keep
clear away from, avoid by flight if need be) any sort of idolatry (of loving or
venerating anything more than God).” (1
Cor. 10:4 AMP) Have you ever put
something as more important than God?
How about sports, shopping, movies, television, or another person?
We can see how even
just one of these things can separate us from God. We, as mankind, long to return to that state
of free, frank fellowship with God that Adam first had but sin stands in the
way. Thank God He has provided a way to
be free from sin: Jesus. If you have not accepted that Jesus died for
your sins, I urge you to do so today.
(Please feel free to contact me at the email link on this page for more
information on accepting Jesus as Lord in your life.) If you have accepted what He has done for
you, I urge you to walk in the Spirit every moment of every day so that you
will not “fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16) and can return to TRUE
worship and inherit His Kingdom.
John 4:23 "A
time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine)
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the
Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers." AMP Bible
