I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:21)
I have a personal rule when going to the store: If I am getting more than three things, I have to write it down. This rule was forged in an early part of my marriage when I often returned from the store with the wrong items (still do on occasion, truth be told). This problem was especially acute in the age before cellphones when I could not call to double check or send a picture of what I was looking at.
Imagine going to the grocery store with the wrong list and then trying to use those ingredients in a recipe instead of the right ones. Whatever you might try to cook, it certainly would not come out the way it was supposed to. The meal would probably end up tasting really bad.
Galatians 5 gives us two lists (we’ll cover the second one tomorrow). The first list cooks with ingredients from the “flesh.” Cooking from this list is a recipe for disaster. In fact, it is poison. Those who cook with ingredients like hatred, envy, or adultery are making a stew that leads to death.
As Christians, we should not cook with ingredients like jealousy, discord, or rage. Imagine a situation where someone who does not believe would behave better than someone
Never make excuses for the flesh.
Ken Schenck is vice president for planning and innovation at Houghton College (NY) and a professor in New Testament. He previously served as dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
