Friday, September 01, 2006
The longer I am in Christ, the more I find myself weak. I can't agree more with what Paul said.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:18-24 NKJ)
I can't remember how many times I grieved over my struggles - lust and pride (1 John 2:16-17 NKJ). Sometimes I didn't want to confess how horrible I am. So I gave new names for my struggles. I called lust "natural biological desire"; pride - self approval. The euphemism made my sinful desire sound very reasonable and I became tolerant of them. In fact, I was fooling myself with the knowledge of the world. In other words, I was blinding myself from the knowledge of God. As John directly said:
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 john 2:15 NKJ)
Rejecting God's knowledge is dreadful. In the Book of Hosea, it is written:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God. (Hosea 4:6 NKJ)
The world lacks the knowledge of God. They see their sinful desire from a perspective that is different from God's. As a servant of God, I should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJ)
