Dear Sisters,
Pondering this month’s topic, I am inclined to react the same way I do when I see one of the often-present Hawaiian roaches in the house: Shudder…Dance-in-place “Yuck!” Mad dash for a paper towel—SQUISH! Likewise, when I see or hear of evil around me, I want to eradicate it from my house, from my very presence. (This is all very humble and righteous of me, of course!)
Leave it to the Lord to bring this topic around to face me—the very evil He wishes to eradicate is within me. Did you note that Jesus did not make it His mission to cleanse the Jewish people of evil, or the Roman government (much to the Jews’ chagrin), He did not even cleanse His childhood town, Nazareth, (the place that wanted to stone Him because they thought He was a little too uppity for His own good)? We all know quite well the state of His friends. Heck, one of the closest of His disciples betrayed Him, and the rest left Him.
Nope. His mission was the individual. How often did He say things like, “[You,] go and sin no more…” “I forgive your sins…” “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He did not fuss and worry about the big, bad evil within the world—He knew He had that conquered—His being God and righteous would take care of Satan. He spent the majority of His time on earth striving to show men and women the evil within their own hearts (even the white-washed ones), and how He could purify them.
Although I would, selfishly, comfortably, like to point outside myself and do the “evil dance,” hoping to condemn and remove the evil over there; I am grateful our Lord is so intimate and engrossed with me that He will not leave me in my state of ignorance, pride, and evil. With Paul, I discovered “the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Rom. 7:21-25a.
Paul goes on to tell us how Christ set us free from the law of sin, that we are no longer slaves—chained to sin, so we should stop volunteering ourselves to a sin ‘master’, but instead live a new life by the Spirit—as true adopted children of God and heirs to His kingdom. All through Romans 8, Paul talks about this life by the Spirit:
• I am to stop the practices of my human/carnal nature, and this is not like a quick diet from sweets to squeeze into that new swim suit, but the picture is of an actual funeral—I am to put those things to death—I no longer do them/respond to them because they are in the ground, eaten by worms;
• I am to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me (even when I don’t want to follow);
• I can call out to God: ‘Abba—Daddy!’; and
• I am to suffer with Him (I will face the same rejection and persecution by the world that Jesus faced)… but, Hallelujah!—we get to be glorified with Him as well!
So now, we get to joyfully anticipate our homecoming sans ‘roaches’ (WOOHOO!), “having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Rom. 8:23b-25
Running with you,
Rebecca