“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
In 2012, a sixteen-year-old named Blake Layman and three teenage friends broke into a house in Elkhart, Indiana, believing it was empty, hoping for a little quick money. The homeowner was actually home, woke to the intrusion, and shot the group, killing one of their friends. Because a death occurred during the commission of their crime, Layman and his surviving friends were convicted of felony murder, even though none of them fired a shot, and were sentenced to decades in prison for a burglary they thought would take five minutes.
There are wrong decisions I’ve made while “living in the moment” that cost far more than I ever thought possible. Solomon, who indulged in nearly every pleasure on earth, wrote this warning:
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9)
Solomon was not condemning a life of blessing; rather, he was warning that pleasure detached from accountability to God eventually comes back to bite us. He knew this very well! The only man endorsed by the Bible as the “wisest man who ever lived” because God had given him divine wisdom—squandered it on unbridled pleasure. His legacy was a broken family and a divided kingdom.
My friend, this does not mean that God wants to deny us pleasure or freedom. Rather, He is telling us that we only find real liberty and lasting pleasure in His presence.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Real liberty, the kind that does not leave wreckage behind, is found—not in following the pleasures of sin, but in following the Spirit of God. That’s why the Bible is constantly reminding us to beware of our flesh.
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)
But our enemy is tricky. He dangles legitimate, God-given pleasures in front of us to hook us. Then, he turns them into a constant distraction or an addiction. It may feel like liberty in the moment, but it always turns into bondage.
Meanwhile, our enemy wants us to believe that walking in the Spirit is just a bunch of restrictive rules. Why? Because he wants us to miss out on the best pleasure and the greatest freedom found in God’s presence.
Some of the blessings we get to enjoy now, and many will be ours forever.
The greatest blessings of living in the Spirit—here and now—are the experience of God’s love, joy, peace…and the power and wisdom of His presence. No amount of fleshly pleasure can produce these blessings! Looks and money can’t buy peace or real love.
Some of the blessings we will enjoy for eternity. In fact, Jesus promises us a 10,000% eternal investment return:
“So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.’” (Mark 10:29-30)
God is not asking us to be miserable in the present so we can be rewarded later. He is asking us to stop confusing fleshly impulse with spiritual freedom. The flesh always whispers, “It is now or never; the consequences are a problem for another day; and this one exception will not really matter.” But it’s a lie that ALWAYS costs us dearly. When we’re living by the Spirit and in loving obedience to the Word, then spontaneity becomes Spirit-led. There is no greater adventure in life than living by the Spirit!
Living in the moment when led by the Spirit—never leaves a lifetime of regret in its wake.
Prayer:
Lord, I do not want to live for the moment in a way that costs me the years ahead. Teach me to see every decision You lead me in as an investment. When I am tempted to grab what feels good right now, remind me that You are offering something better. Let my life be marked by seeds sown to the Spirit, and let the harvest include souls who come with me into eternity because of how I chose to live today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
