To and Fro, to and fro, which way will you choose to go?

Galatians 6:7-10

King James Version (KJV)

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

2 Chronicles 16:9a

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

Job 2:2

And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

James 1:8 

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Ephesians 4:14

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

This thought hit me today, as I was in church and listening to my pastors sermon. Honestly, it came partly from the scripture he read (Galatians 6:8) and partly from my habit of reading around the scripture being quoted. So, I read verses 7-10. 

At that point, these thoughts began to come to me in rapid fire succession. So, we're gonna put the fruit of the spirit on hold for a few days and concentrate on this thought. 

Verses 7 and 8 read: 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

There are two distinct choices listed here. 

A) We can sew to our flesh and eventually reap corruption. In order to be a child of God, we must be born again (Acts 2:38). In order to remain a child of God we must crucify our flesh and strive to be like him (with his help, of course). If we allow our flesh to have free reign in our lives, we will once again begin to practice the works of the flesh: 

Galatians 5:19-21

King James Version (KJV)

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

In so doing, we separate ourselves from the spirit of God and we can lose our salvation and wind up in hell. After all, even Paul said: 1 Corinthians 9:27

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

B) Or, we can sew to the spirit. We do this in many ways. Prayer, Bible Study, public worship, hearing the taught and preached word, being careful what we read, watch, and listen to, being careful who we hang out with, etc. Sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. 

Becoming a Christian is a lifestyle change. We MUST turn away from the world and our flesh. We MUST seek God first and his righteousness.

I love my wife. As such, I try to discover her likes and dislikes. Why? I want to keep my relationship with her and I want it to become deeper and stronger. Therefore, I try to do more of what she likes and try not to do what she hates. I begin to modify my behavior because I love her. Why should I do any less for my Lord and Savior? 

As part of his bride, my purpose is to learn his likes and dislikes. Therefore, I change my behavior in order to deepen and strengthen my relationship with him. 

The problem is that we, as humans, sometimes are double minded. We want God sometimes, but sometimes we want to feed our flesh. This makes us unstable in all our ways. 

Both God and Satan are going to and fro. Satan does it seeking whom he may devour. If we choose to sin, we step into his trap and are ripe for the eating. God does it (with is eyes- he's everywhere, so he doesn't have to move about to see what we are doing. He's already there) to look and see who is loving and serving him (and who is ready to love and serve him). He also does it to see what the sinners are doing as well- he is the righteous judge, after all.

So, obviously, Both heaven and hell are vying for our attention. Both God and Satan will do everything within their power to help us to choose their sides and to help us to stay there once we get there. So, who decides whether we make heaven or go to hell? 

We do! 

And we daily must decide whether we will follow Jesus, or follow this world. With some of us, Jesus must become really frustrated. Did you ever have a relationship where the one you wanted sent mixed signals to you? One day they wanted you. The next, they wanted someone else. Eventually, you grew tired of it and gave them up- if they didn't stop playing both sides and chose you, right?

Eventually, if we don't make up our minds, God will give us over to a reprobate mind. Why? Because we "received not the love of the truth." We have a choice to make. God will not always strive with us. And he doesn't hold onto the double minded for very long.

We must stop being blown about with every wind of doctrine. We must stand firmly on the word of God and seek him first.

The more we go to and fro, the higher the chance of our being lost. 

So: James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

It is high time for us to stop flirting with both sides. We must choose. I choose Jesus. What about you?