Gal 5:5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
It seems that we are always at war with something. It could be any number of things most of which are rooted in our own flesh. Alcohol/drug abuse, anger, sexual issues and anything else that diverts us from our march toward God. We war against our own nature. In our spirit we want to be righteous; our own flesh however opposes this.
I like to fish and hunt. One deer season I harvested a deer and needed to field dress the animal. (I don't want to gross people out and if you do not like or approve of hunting - this is not the time for that discussion.) My friend Pat and I secured the deer from a rafter in the barn and proceeded with processing the carcass. We dropped the organs into a trash can and set it aside. It was full on dark and we intended to return the next day and dispose of the material. As with all battle plans, our "plan" did not survive contact with the enemy.
We, for a laundry list of "reasons", did not make it back to take care of the, uh-hem, (cough, cough) "issue." It actually took us a full week to get back to it. Now keep in mind the organs were placed inside a black plastic trash can and was sitting in direct sun light and it was still rather warm weather. It is hard just to imagine the smell, let alone the appearance, of what used to be the internal organs of a deer. Pat and I discovered a whole new level of disgusting that our imaginations could never otherwise achieve. We also discovered that when it comes to the worst smells, PVC and/or ABS do not contain this level disgusting smell. We got wind of the problem about 50 feet away, and we still had to deal with properly disposing of the gut retching (no that is not meant to be "wrenching." I mean "retching") mess. It was all we could do to not become ill.
As Christ's disciples contend with our own flesh. Even knowing that ALL of our sins are forgiven (past and future) we still try to live a Spirit-led life, striving to do what is right before God simply because we desire to please God out of His love for us and our love for Him. But, our "flesh" often gets in the way. It is like trying to dump that trash can full of deer guts. It was a horrific sight and a worse smell. And this is our daily struggle. We are human and our fleshy nature gets in the way of our spiritual self. It is by faith we know that the righteousness that we desire will one day be an actuality. By faith in Christ we will receive the promises given us by grace. This not the vain hope of winning the Powerball jackpot (I still buy a ticket anyway) but it is the hope built upon the unbreakable promises of God. We will one day have within us the righteousness we desire. It is promised to us by the One who cannot break His word.
It seems that we are always at war with something. It could be any number of things most of which are rooted in our own flesh. Alcohol/drug abuse, anger, sexual issues and anything else that diverts us from our march toward God. We war against our own nature. In our spirit we want to be righteous; our own flesh however opposes this.
I like to fish and hunt. One deer season I harvested a deer and needed to field dress the animal. (I don't want to gross people out and if you do not like or approve of hunting - this is not the time for that discussion.) My friend Pat and I secured the deer from a rafter in the barn and proceeded with processing the carcass. We dropped the organs into a trash can and set it aside. It was full on dark and we intended to return the next day and dispose of the material. As with all battle plans, our "plan" did not survive contact with the enemy.
We, for a laundry list of "reasons", did not make it back to take care of the, uh-hem, (cough, cough) "issue." It actually took us a full week to get back to it. Now keep in mind the organs were placed inside a black plastic trash can and was sitting in direct sun light and it was still rather warm weather. It is hard just to imagine the smell, let alone the appearance, of what used to be the internal organs of a deer. Pat and I discovered a whole new level of disgusting that our imaginations could never otherwise achieve. We also discovered that when it comes to the worst smells, PVC and/or ABS do not contain this level disgusting smell. We got wind of the problem about 50 feet away, and we still had to deal with properly disposing of the gut retching (no that is not meant to be "wrenching." I mean "retching") mess. It was all we could do to not become ill.
As Christ's disciples contend with our own flesh. Even knowing that ALL of our sins are forgiven (past and future) we still try to live a Spirit-led life, striving to do what is right before God simply because we desire to please God out of His love for us and our love for Him. But, our "flesh" often gets in the way. It is like trying to dump that trash can full of deer guts. It was a horrific sight and a worse smell. And this is our daily struggle. We are human and our fleshy nature gets in the way of our spiritual self. It is by faith we know that the righteousness that we desire will one day be an actuality. By faith in Christ we will receive the promises given us by grace. This not the vain hope of winning the Powerball jackpot (I still buy a ticket anyway) but it is the hope built upon the unbreakable promises of God. We will one day have within us the righteousness we desire. It is promised to us by the One who cannot break His word.
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