Greed.

We like to have it all. We like to have secrets. We like to surprise people. We don't like the boring or the mundane-even if it's good. We like a little bad in our lives. We are greedy. We want to keep up appearances, and go to church and spend time with our church friends, but we like to dabble in a little badness on the side, where no one can see us. Brothers, this should not be. The Bible says that we must choose. Thrice we are told that we can only choose one way-God's, or our own. Joshua is famous for telling the Israelites to "choose this day whom you will serve"; either the old, powerless gods of your forefathers or God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth. (Josh. 24:15). Jesus tells us at the end of Matthew 6 that it is impossible to serve two masters-either we will love one and hate the other, or hate one and love the other. Paul writes to the church in Galatia that our natural desires and the desires of the Spirit that God has put within us are in conflict with one another. Our old man and our redeemed and renewed new man are in a constant and daily war. We cannot please both. In everything, we must choose whether to please our God, or to please our selves.