PAY ATTENTION!!!
MAY 1, 2025
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:1,13-18
KEY VERSE: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (GALATIANS 5:17).
A lot of people are familiar with the story of how former United States President Bill Clinton was involved in an affair with a White House intern, Miss Monica Lewinsky. Admitting to the affair openly, after initially denying it for months, Clinton said, “I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned…” He was eventually impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for lying under oath, though he was allowed to complete his second term in office. It was a public disgrace.
Believers are advised to walk in the Spirit in order not to fulfill the desires of the flesh. The flesh is a major albatross to the believer’s journey to heaven. It is said to be ‘contrary’ to the Spirit and prevents one from living a righteous life. It produces lusts, which, if yielded to, lead to sin; and sin, after it is committed, leads to death—spiritual death.
Sin is evil, and the sin of the flesh is dangerous because of its perilous appeal. The Bible says, “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.” The casualty list is so long that every believer needs to be careful. Great men and women in politics, business, entertainment, and even in the clergy have been brought down and disgraced through this sin. The agents by which they were brought down may be unlikely and unexpected, like the case of Monica Lewinsky, who was just an intern in the White House.
The earlier sin is acknowledged, confessed, and repented of, the better and safer it is. No one can hide sin forever, no matter the effort to silence the conscience. Sin easily unmasks its perpetrator. There is no hiding place for the unrepentant sinner. To make his way right with God, the sinner must confess and forsake his sins and accept Christ as personal Lord and Saviour.
SEARCH LIGHT: Constant study and meditation on the word of God, coupled with prayers and a commitment to doing the word of God, will always activate the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is the only antidote to sin.
PRAYER: Lord, keep me from spiritual carelessness that often leads to bondage to the flesh and self. Teach me to always put my body and its desires under the control of the Holy Spirit.
BIBLE READING: 2 Chronicles 27-29, Ephesians 2.
PASTOR MICHAEL OMOLE
