Wed 6.3 – iFlesh

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-9; Judges 1.21-36, 2.6-13

Today I want to stop and talk about a simple truth from our familiar passage in Colossians, and compare that to an illustration the Lord gives to us in Joshua.

Have you ever seen the Apple Software series that all start with “i-Whatever the software is for”? Like, iTunes, iWork, iLife, etc…? That is a great marketing strategy for their software. Without actually coming out and saying it, they are personalizing their product to the consumer. Their branding is one of the most successful of all time because of their ability to present it in such a “our way is better” model. This is even subtly seen in their “PC and MAC” commercials with the dorky PC guy in glasses and a suit from the 80’s, and the hip MAC guy.

Unfortunately we seem to take that same approach with our FLESH! We look at the scriptures, and we hear God saying to MORTIFY that flesh, and to PUT OFF that same wicked flesh, so that we can PUT ON the new man (Col 3.1-9). However, what we begin to do, almost instantly, is to excuse us keeping our flesh around. Too often we try to make it sound spiritual. We will let our flesh remain UN-MORTIFIED, and not completely PUT IT OFF because it can HELP us in the work of God.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Have you ever looked at someone and thought to yourself, “man, if that guy would just give his life to Christ, he has so much potential.”? Well, the BASE problem with that kind of thinking is that we are immediately connecting his USEFULNESS to God with his FLESHY ABILITIEIS. The last time I checked, God was in the business of taking that which was NOT FLESH, and making it useful in spite of the flesh so that the whole world knows this thing must be of God (see 1 Corinthians 1.27).

So, what we do is see some part of us that may even LOOK like it is potentially good for the work of God, and we let that one part of our flesh remain alive, remain on, and we just try to take that FLESH as a PRISONER OF WAR to our Spirit…which will never work.

We have no leg to stand on in our passage in Colossians if we think God was saying that we could keep some of the flesh alive and around…absolutely not. Look at an illustration of this in the Old Testament.

As the Children of Israel were delivered from Egypt (Salvation) and were led through the wilderness by Moses (law) to the Promised Land of God, they encountered many things and failed many times. Then God raises a new generation of Israelites to possess THE LAND (abundant spiritual life, John 10.10) under the new leader Joshua (Jesus). When they get there, God says to COMPLETELY wipe out everyone that is in the land (just as we are to completely mortify/kill/destroy our flesh before we can possess abundant life) and just like so many of us, they DISOBEY.

Rather than simply obeying God, they decided that these people who they were to kill could be kept alive as slaves and pay them tribute (or money) and be a profit to them. While this system worked for a generation, check out the commentary in Judges 1 and 2 as noted above. Because they kept those people around, those HEATHEN PEOPLE exposed God’s people to HEATHEN WORSHIP and HEATHEN GODS which eventually led the CHILDREN OF GOD away from the ONE TRUE GOD unto another. If they had simply OBEYED God in the beginning the sad, sad, sad, commentary of Judges 2.11-13 would not be the case because the enemy would not have been there to present the false gods.

Today, let’s ask God to show us areas of our lives where we are allowing FLESH to remain because we think it benefits us, and maybe even Him. No matter how impressive your flesh may be, God wants nothing to do with it. He wants no sacrifice of it, no worship from it, no things concerning it, because “God IS a SPIRIT and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in SPIRIT and truth.” May we completely destroy and put off that wicked flesh that tempts us so!!!