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Rom.8:12,13 |
12
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh,
to live after the flesh.
13
For if ye
live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. |
When I was in
the Navy, we called the captain of our ship "the Old Man."
Our Old Man was tough and crusty and nobody liked him.
He used to go out drinking with all his chiefs while belittling
and harassing his junior officers and making life miserable for
the rest of us. He was not a good example of a naval officer. So
when our Old Man got transferred to another ship, we all
rejoiced. It was a great day for our ship.
Then we got a new skipper - a new Old Man.
The old Old Man no longer had any authority over us; he was gone
- completely out of the picture. But I was trained under that
Old Man. So how do you think I related to the new Old Man? At
first I responded to him just like I had been conditioned to
respond to the old skipper. I tiptoed around him expecting him
to bite my head off. That's how I had lived for two years around
my first skipper.
But as I got to know the new skipper, I realized that he wasn't
a crusty old tyrant like my old Old Man. He wasn't out to harass
his crew; he was a good guy, really concerned about us. But I
had been programmed for two years to react a certain way when I
saw a captain's braids. I didn't need to react that way any
longer, but it took several months to recondition myself to the
new skipper.
 You
also once served under a cruel, self-serving skipper: your old
sinful self with its sinful nature. The admiral of that fleet is
Satan himself, the prince of darkness. But by God's grace you
have been transferred into Christ's kingdom
(Col.1:13).
You now have a new skipper: your new self which is infused with
the divine nature of Jesus Christ, your new admiral. As a child
of God, a saint, you are no longer under the authority of your
old Old Man. He is dead, buried, gone forever.
So why do you still react as if your old skipper were still in
control of your behavior? We'll answer that question tomorrow.
Praise You,
Lord, that my relationship with my old skipper, that old sinful
self, is gone. I choose to live today in the realty of my new
nature in Christ.
(Writer unknown)
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