The Sidekick

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. -- Galatians 5:16

The more we seek God and seek to have our minds renewed by the truth and our lives transformed in that renewal, the less power the old nature has over us. 

Sometimes I think my natural, conscious mind, the one I’ve used so much and, God forgive me, been proud of now and then, is like the comic-relief sidekick in an old Western serial.  He’s kind of along for the ride, more trouble than he’s worth, and is prone to take undue credit for his part in a happy ending.  We would wonder about a heroine who was more taken with the empty bluster and bravado of the side-kick than the hero’s selfless courage, honesty, humility, and competence. 

The soul is the heroine.  She can listen to the spirit and love him, or she can be enamored of the flesh and his banter.  The flesh has a lot on his side in that he and the whole world system are in agreement and alignment.  They share a lot of values.  The flesh’s views get reinforced by everything in popular culture.  We are inundated with news and information and politics and all the rest telling us that the flesh is right.  All that matters is what can be experienced by the five senses, and you had better get it while you can.  YOLO.  I have to look it up every time I see it. 

If we live to the flesh, we are dead while we live – dead now in our sins and trespasses.  But if our heroine binds herself instead to the spirit, we enter into life.  It’s a good thing to remember that the life we receive from Christ, the only kind of life He has, is eternal life, beginning not when we die physically but as we turn and begin walking with and according the Spirit. 

One more thing about not gratifying the desires of the flesh, most of us have had the unhappy occasion to stumble and go wrong.  Even when it works out, even when I’ve gotten “my way”, I get no satisfaction out of it anymore.  I remember when sin was fun.  If wickedness had been as empty and unfulfilling when I was seventeen or eighteen as it is now, I would have quit a lot sooner.  Once you start walking in the Spirit, the old thrills start fading.  Part of that might be a natural result of the passing of time, but I see men and women my chronological age and older that still haven’t gotten the message.  It doesn’t mean that we won’t be tempted or that we won’t fall; we’ll just feel worse afterward, every time.

This Must Be For You

Anyone who has an ear to hear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. -- Revelation 3:22

This ends the section of the book of Revelation where the Lord gives specific messages to each of the seven churches of Asia Minor. If you attend to experts discussing this section, some will say that the various churches are types – some churches are like Philadelphia, or Smyrna, and others are like Ephesus or Laodicea. Other students of the Bible will tell you that these represent stages or ages that the Church will go through leading up to the end times. Futurists and pre-millennialists tend to think that way.

I don’t know about all that, but I don’t think it matters so much. I think this verse could be the key to the whole book of Revelation, if not the Bible. What does it say? Anyone who is capable of hearing should, not must, but should listen. Listen to what? What difference does it make to me what the Lord said to some ancient, long-dead Christians in Thyatira or Sardis? I’m not where they were, and they were not dealing with my problems.

What God says, He does not say solely to one group of people in one period at one place. His word transcends culture, language, space, and time. I’m all for using the available tools to study Scripture, for good hermeneutics, and, at least to some extent, interpreting in the light of tradition and context. All that is fine, but first and foremost, God is speaking to me where I am, in whatever mess I’m in. One of the ways in which He speaks is by His written word, and, if I will listen, He will speak in an immediate way that is exactly what I need to hear right now.

This isn’t about pulling texts out to prove some point or reinforce my inclinations, or any kind of bibliomancy. This is about reading the word of God with my ears open, reading with the understanding that somehow, in some way completely incomprehensible to me, God ordained that I should open this book and read these words, and that He really wants to speak to me and have me understand. He brings me to this point with all the – don’t think of it as baggage any more – gear, tools, and equipment I need to hear Him. What the Spirit says (not said, He’s still talking) to the churches I am equipped to make real. The stuff I’ve been through along the way has outfitted me to see this passage and see it come alive in my life.

The Bible, any holy book, but especially the Bible, is dangerous. It really is like a sword. A fool with a weapon can do a lot of damage, whereas someone who knows how to use a weapon can deploy it intelligently for self-defense and good. The Bible is loaded, and it can be lethal. People, even some with the best of intentions, have hacked the Bible, perverted the words and gone counter to the intent of the Author. We can't let that scare us. If we are willing to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches, or to disciples, patriarchs, kings, judges, shepherds, or cities, we will hear Him speaking to us.

Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence. Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. (Hosea 6:1-3)