EDIM 4 - Rabid Beast
I was reading a 1-a-day year long devotional this morning, "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I don't exactly condone doing reading such a thing, it takes away from willingness and time to read the bible. So much better, there's no substitute. Still, good stuff, and I did draw a rather vivid daydream out of the book after finishing the page.
This will have to be short and sweet, and that is frustrating. But I'll continue anyway with this verse from Colossians 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."
That was pretty much the premise of the reading, and for whatever reason, "death" really stood out. Putting something to death is a whole lot more quick and clean than the drawn out strangling that I seem to engage in... entirely ineffective and to personally involved for my own good. Sin could pretty much be described as a rabid dog. For whatever reason, most let themselves become appeased by simply attaching a leash to the beast, tethering to themselves while keeping the thing reined in. Problem is, it's rabid. Given the situation of being tethered to a rabid dog, shouldn't our response be a little more urgent rather than resigned? It's to easy to be okay with -as a good friend once described it- "managing" sin. Some day though, that beast is going to turn around to see what is holding it back, and goodness sakes, I want the thing dead long before then.
That may be analogical, to abstract. Can you think of all the times a friend of yours ended up in a car wreck and nearly dying? Cancer? Suicidal thoughts? The rabid beast of sin has turned and overpowered the one it lead, no more simply blocking out a free life, but threatening to destroy all of it in entirety; family, friends, spouses, everything. Only one option remains then, to cry out for help because you know you can't kill it yourself, you're caught and held at the throat. I have been there, where sin has encroached to where it can't be hidden or controlled anymore, where only God has the power to rip off the oppression. I cannot help but think of the similarity with C.S Lewis describing Aslan tearing off the layers of dragon around Eustace, a correlation I'm sure he meant.
The truth is, there is no managing sin. It's not hard to be deceived into believing that the threat is small and doing no harm, that its importance is less than the big thing we see now, but reining in, or constraint, restriction, whatever actions taken are not enough. It's got to be put to death. As in beheaded. I don't think I do nearly anything so completely and cleanly, not even in scraping the last bits of cookie dough from the bowl, or grimacing while finishing those last super-salty remains in the corner of the chip bag.
The whole thing just really stood out today, putting to death is serious stuff.
I'll end with this beautiful passage of prayer from Ephesians 3:16-21 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
This will have to be short and sweet, and that is frustrating. But I'll continue anyway with this verse from Colossians 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."
That was pretty much the premise of the reading, and for whatever reason, "death" really stood out. Putting something to death is a whole lot more quick and clean than the drawn out strangling that I seem to engage in... entirely ineffective and to personally involved for my own good. Sin could pretty much be described as a rabid dog. For whatever reason, most let themselves become appeased by simply attaching a leash to the beast, tethering to themselves while keeping the thing reined in. Problem is, it's rabid. Given the situation of being tethered to a rabid dog, shouldn't our response be a little more urgent rather than resigned? It's to easy to be okay with -as a good friend once described it- "managing" sin. Some day though, that beast is going to turn around to see what is holding it back, and goodness sakes, I want the thing dead long before then.
That may be analogical, to abstract. Can you think of all the times a friend of yours ended up in a car wreck and nearly dying? Cancer? Suicidal thoughts? The rabid beast of sin has turned and overpowered the one it lead, no more simply blocking out a free life, but threatening to destroy all of it in entirety; family, friends, spouses, everything. Only one option remains then, to cry out for help because you know you can't kill it yourself, you're caught and held at the throat. I have been there, where sin has encroached to where it can't be hidden or controlled anymore, where only God has the power to rip off the oppression. I cannot help but think of the similarity with C.S Lewis describing Aslan tearing off the layers of dragon around Eustace, a correlation I'm sure he meant.
The truth is, there is no managing sin. It's not hard to be deceived into believing that the threat is small and doing no harm, that its importance is less than the big thing we see now, but reining in, or constraint, restriction, whatever actions taken are not enough. It's got to be put to death. As in beheaded. I don't think I do nearly anything so completely and cleanly, not even in scraping the last bits of cookie dough from the bowl, or grimacing while finishing those last super-salty remains in the corner of the chip bag.
The whole thing just really stood out today, putting to death is serious stuff.
I'll end with this beautiful passage of prayer from Ephesians 3:16-21 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
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