What an odd title to a blog post right? I’ve been struggling this week on a topic to write about so I went outside for a few minutes to take a look at a drafty window we have on the northwest corner of our house. I thought I might cover it with a piece of plastic to cut down on the air flow, and as I was contemplating this, I asked God for wisdom in declaring His truth.
This has been an odd week for me, usually I get up pretty early on Monday morning, head to Starbucks, read my Bible, and then write my article. The article is sent to my Pastor so he can ensure I’ve not made any huge theological blunders. I take seriously the charge to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 3:15) and that I’ll be held accountable for what is being taught (James 3:1). Then I’ll sit on it for most of Monday, review on Tuesday and make any refinements and then post it Tuesday sometime.
This week I caught a bad cold and I couldn’t drag myself out of bed Monday so I kept procrastinating and then again Tuesday… So now here I am Tuesday evening and finally sitting down to write and I can’t think of a thing to say. For those of you that know me I’m sure you’re wondering how that happened.
I’ve been a homeowner for approximately 22 years; well actually I’ve been buying a house from the bank for 22 years, but that’s a whole other article, and the thought occurred to me that there is a lot of maintenance to being a homeowner. Down through the years, we’ve replaced the roof, the hot water heater, had our basement flooded a few times, it’s a never ending job to keep things up.
As I gave up on my window project as quickly as I thought about it I realized how similar it is to what Scripture calls me to mortify my flesh, not to entertain sin in my life in anyway. It’s a never ending process. It’s like watching a gerbil on a treadmill; we run and run but seemingly never get anywhere. However, as with home maintenance and mortification of sin we must see some obvious signs of accomplishment or we must really examine our claim to Christianity.
Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
If you gaze back on your Christian life do you see obvious signs of “accomplishment”? I use this word accomplishment lightly because it’s God that works in us and the progress is not our own yet we must fully participate in the process. Have you gained ground on your sin or do you continue to struggle with the same old stuff.
If my house is crumbling around me it would appear I’ve not been very diligent in keeping up with my investment. So clearly we can see the parallel can’t we? If I was to ask you how is your relationship with Christ I’d be every bit as interested in how is your relationship to your sin? Are you closer to it or further from it? Do you see your sin in a different light than what you once saw it?
Jesus Christ was the greatest preacher the world has ever known and one thing that made Him so good, beside the fact He is God, was His use of common everyday things in life that illustrated deep theological issues. He called these parables and in my “parable” I hope you’ll consider today if you are working at killing the desires of your flesh, i.e. keeping up the maintenance, or are those nagging sin issues still dragging you down.
Without the grace of God there is no peace and when sin stands between you and God there is no grace.
So today let’s put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Whatever sin issues you are currently dealing with you need to repent of that sin and then put it off completely. If you are a Believer you are entitled to enter the throne room and set it at the foot of the One that freely gives to those who humble themselves, but you must not count that grace as a common thing (Hebrews 10:26).
If you are a Believer that sin was nailed to the cross of Christ. So why would you continue in it? Let’s really think about that today.
Kevin
Also wanted to announce our new radio show “Ask a Pastor”
Uncommon Faith 