Posts
Tuesday, July 10
“For you died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
(Col. 3:3 NKJV)
I died!
Yup. I died.
The old self? Buried.
Left behind. Forgotten.
“My old self has been crucified with Christ.” (Gal. 2:20a
NLT)
Calvary’s cross lays atop
that grave of the old me and I’ve said toodles!
The new me? Alive and
hidden in Christ.
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I
live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20b NLT)
And if you are in Christ, your old self is dead and buried
also, right? “Your old, evil nature died with Him and was buried with Him.” (Col.
2:12 TLB)
Therefore, you and I are “a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV), because “Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful
nature to His cross and crucified them there.” (Gal. 5:24 NLT)
But are we content to leave well enough alone? Nooooooo! We
have to go get our handy-dandy, Lowe’s special, heavy duty, grave-diggin’
shovel and dig up our old selves again because self wants to come out and play.
Oh, we welcome that
rugged cross to rest upon our sins, but we won’t let it rest upon our nature.
Paul assures us through his letter to the Roman church “that
our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Rom. 6:6 NKJV)
Unfortunately, after becoming a new creation in
Christ, that old man has a stubborn propensity for raising his ugly head and
yoo-hooing us from the grave. He likes to dangle his friends...impure thoughts,
words, attitudes, sights, and feelings...right before our eyes.
And what do we do?
Yup. We reach for the shovel handle and start
digging to accommodate him!
Then, we
find ourselves saying...
“Well, halllloooo there, old pal negative
attitude!”
“Howdy there, pardner selfishness!”
“Welcome back, ol’ addiction!”
“Glad to see ya, lust!”
But if “The Spirit of God, who
raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you,” then, “dear brothers and sisters,
you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to
do.” (Rom.
8:11a, 12 NLT) Because “now you are free from your old master, sin” (Rom. 6:18
TLB), so “let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what
your sinful nature craves.” (Gal. 5:16 NLT)
Therefore, no more reaching
for the shovel! No more grave digging!
And “That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you
conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little
errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves
wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into
God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re
not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of
God.” (Rom.
6:12-14 Msg)
Do you have a
handy-dandy, Lowe’s special, heavy duty, grave-diggin’ shovel?
Another great post to refer back to often Lynn! :) Even though we need to nail our sinful nature to the cross, it certainly doesn't mean that we will never have evil desires and temptations again. Thankfully we have an option to draw on His spirit to overcome them! :)
Blessings and His grace!
Denise
Excellent post Lynn, can't argue with any of the scriptures you used :) I do not want to dig up old stuff, I want to build new stuff!
Great post!
I don't like digging- back breaking work. Better to leave the old man buried!
Only through Christ is that possible- though I don't like to dig, I find my old self showing up at the most inconvenient times!
Awww, thank you so much, Denise! I so appreciate you! Blessings to you!
Amen, Marja! Hate all that old stuff! I'm with you! Thanks, sweetie! Love you!
LOL You said that right, TC! It IS back-breaking! We end up carrying too much weight of the past after digging it up! Thanks so much for your comment. I appreciate it! Blessings to you!
Lynn, I loved your post. I shared it with my Face book page.
Sharon, thank you so much, sweetie, for commenting and sharing my post. Bless you!
Greatly love this post.
Ugh! Yes, I have a grave-digging shovel and no matter how I try to hide it in the back of the shed, it keeps appearing right up front. I'm praying it'll break in half
Thank you for this wonderful reminder.
Oh, yes, I have one too ('cept mine's from McCoys, lol). It's why my passion is looking at every moment through love colored glasses, HIS love. Thanks for this post, and thanks Sharon for linking it on FB:)
Very enjoyable post with a great message, Lynn! I love to read what you write and find myself inspired each time!
Lynn,
I have to tell you, I LOVE it when God connects His people by putting them on similar biblical paths!
This past week I was sharing with someone about the whole old man and new man thing. And two weeks ago my hubby preached about being made alive and what that means.
The old man may be dead but this flesh tries so hard to raise itself back up.
GREAT POST, sweet friend!
I think I better go break my shovel now. :-)
I loved your post, Lynn,and had never thought of it in quite those terms. I should break my shovel as well. It seems I use it too often.
After a 2 year sabattical from my blog and everyone else's I am back and I thoroughly enjoyed this entry. Don't I always!! I'm serving a God that believes in second chances. Who loves us just as we are but encourages us to grow. We serve a great and awesome God!! ♥ ya bunches!!
(‾‾`’▪.,//(*_*)\\,.▪`’‾‾)
Well, halllllloooooooooo there, Miss Gigi! I'm so happy to see you here! Thanks so much for dropping by. Makes my heart to know you are out and about and doing so well. Please you, my sweet friend!
Lynn, not only do we have the Lowe's special, we sometimes rent out an entire bevy of excavation equipment. Of course, they can fill in just as fast as they dig.
Great post, Lynn. Love the analogy. You always come up with the most creative illustrations. I love it.