They call it crucifying the flesh for a reason. Crucifixion is painful; it's a slow death, little by little. Our flesh dies painfully, slowly, not going without a fight. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, "I die daily". Our flesh wants to live, it wants to live large, it wants to be in control.
I cracked open an eye this morning and looked at the time displayed on the ceiling above my bed. 5:15 am. I burrowed in the covers a little deeper, closed my eyes again and heard, Get out of bed. Time to go walking. Immediately, my flesh asserted itself. It's dark, it's cold outside. I'll do some crunches later, let me sleep. Get up, time to go to the mall. I rolled back over, looked at the clock again. 5:18 am. Ok, ok. I'm getting up.
I'll have to admit I've been struggling with some areas of this experiment, because at the bottom of the entire thing is this: it's a call to walk after the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. God is calling me to crucify the flesh and my flesh doesn't want to die - it wants to live and thrive and call the shots. It wants to sleep in, watch TV, eat junk food, go to movies, buy the latest fashions just because they are cute.
What got me out of bed this morning, what helped me choose to buy grapes over the pumpkin pie in the grocery store last night was an illustration I used in the ladies Bible Study I taught last year - an illustration of two puppies.
A dog gave birth to two pups. One was fat and healthy, one was the runt. The fat healthy one got all the food. The runt was weak and sickly and if he continued going unfed would soon die. I call these puppies my flesh and my spirit. The one I feed most is going to flourish. The one I neglect is going to eventually die. As I lay in bed looking at the clock this morning, I thought, "if you feed this flesh it will get fatter and the spirit is going to get thinner. Which one do you want to die?"
I wish I could tell you I got some great revelation on my walk today, that something miraculous happened, that there was some reward for my obedience. There wasn't. I just did what I was told. The reward is in knowing that my flesh is the runt and it's getting weaker every time I choose to feed the spirit instead.
Can a person really live the way the Bible calls him to live in these trying times? Yes. Because God gives us the tools to accomplish what He calls us to do. In my case the tool is an illustration - an illustration of two puppies.
I cracked open an eye this morning and looked at the time displayed on the ceiling above my bed. 5:15 am. I burrowed in the covers a little deeper, closed my eyes again and heard, Get out of bed. Time to go walking. Immediately, my flesh asserted itself. It's dark, it's cold outside. I'll do some crunches later, let me sleep. Get up, time to go to the mall. I rolled back over, looked at the clock again. 5:18 am. Ok, ok. I'm getting up.
I'll have to admit I've been struggling with some areas of this experiment, because at the bottom of the entire thing is this: it's a call to walk after the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. God is calling me to crucify the flesh and my flesh doesn't want to die - it wants to live and thrive and call the shots. It wants to sleep in, watch TV, eat junk food, go to movies, buy the latest fashions just because they are cute.
What got me out of bed this morning, what helped me choose to buy grapes over the pumpkin pie in the grocery store last night was an illustration I used in the ladies Bible Study I taught last year - an illustration of two puppies.
A dog gave birth to two pups. One was fat and healthy, one was the runt. The fat healthy one got all the food. The runt was weak and sickly and if he continued going unfed would soon die. I call these puppies my flesh and my spirit. The one I feed most is going to flourish. The one I neglect is going to eventually die. As I lay in bed looking at the clock this morning, I thought, "if you feed this flesh it will get fatter and the spirit is going to get thinner. Which one do you want to die?"
I wish I could tell you I got some great revelation on my walk today, that something miraculous happened, that there was some reward for my obedience. There wasn't. I just did what I was told. The reward is in knowing that my flesh is the runt and it's getting weaker every time I choose to feed the spirit instead.
Can a person really live the way the Bible calls him to live in these trying times? Yes. Because God gives us the tools to accomplish what He calls us to do. In my case the tool is an illustration - an illustration of two puppies.
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