Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I'm My Own Spiritual Terrorist

I'M MY OWN SPIRITUAL TERRORIST
“I was sabotaged, set up, conspired against…the devil made me do it!” Oh! How often we engage in the fine art of laying our problems, trials and failings in the lap of someone else, when, in reality, we are the ones who have set ourselves up to fail.

A few months ago while driving past a construction site near my home I had the good fortune of running over a nail. For about a week I nursed the tire, filling it constantly with air, until I could get to a repair shop. Finally, my schedule clear enough to allow for the three hours I would have to wait, I set off to the local superstore’s tire repair shop. As I waited I had the opportunity to watch a couple of employees stack tents on one of those middle-of-the-aisle displays. On one side were some large tents and on the other some more oddly packaged smaller tents.

After about an hour the stackers realized the only thing holding up the large stack of small tents was the heavier stack of large tents. The one stacker turned to the other and said, I kid you not, “As long as nobody moves the larger tents, we should be okay.” Imagine that. Here is a truly lose-lose situation. The point of the display was to sell tents and make a profit. Yet, if they sell them, someone may get hurt.

Many do this spiritually. They stack the odds against themselves and when someone comes along and applies the least bit of pressure, we blame them. Paul once said, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14 ESV). The word “provision” here, according to Greek scholars, means “forethought or providential care.” In other words, we should not make plans that are destined to lead us astray and we certainly should not blame it on others when we do.

Instead, let us make plans for spiritual success, laying up a spiritual treasure in heaven. Consider another of Paul’s thoughts. “For Everyone that sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8). What have you sown in your spiritual life? In the end, what will you reap?

P.S. - I am still working on the "unaffiliated" series of articles and will post them later.