I started to title this blog Now vs. Later. My initial thought was that you can have pleasures of this world now and not inherit the Kingdom of God or you can avoid pleasure in this life and reap your reward later. Then I realized that even though God directs you to avoid sin there is still pleasures to be had in this life. Chief among which is pleasing God by following his commands.
This commentary stems from the readings from Galatians (GAL 5:18-25) where Paul is telling the people to avoid sinful behavior in favor of promoting “the fruit of the Spirit”. Paul writes that the fruits are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” I think I could claim to have a pretty good life if I possessed all of these.
In the Gospel from Luke (LK 11:42-46) Jesus is trying to teach the Pharisees and the scholars to pay less attention to being seen as “big-shots” and more attention to loving God by loving His people. He is asking them to take the role of servant leadership. In return they would not only reap the rewards in the Kingdom of God but also enjoy the appreciation of the people they serve.
GVW4U 