For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. -1 John 2:16
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with my flesh constantly. The battle between what I know God wants in my life and what I want is always being waged. Sadly my flesh often wins, but the truth is that the finish line for the deeds of my flesh is the dump. The things I want, the stuff I must have, the accomplishments I think are so important all end up on the trash heap of failed flesh.
All that the world aspires to, all that I aspire to apart from God, is destined for the dump, to be thrown away, abandoned, forgotten. The great monuments to Stalin…at the dump. The amazing car I “had to have”…trash. The titles we must have to find worth and importance…forgotten. All that the world offers, all that we want in the flesh is destined for the dump. (I’ve said this several times for emphasis. Maybe you don’t need to be reminded of it, but I do.)
I have to admit I often set my desires, my passions on things that will not last….things that cannot satisfy….fame that will quickly fade….things destined to be thrown away when we realize they don’t fulfill. The finish line for the flesh is the dump…..it’s where we take the things we no longer want. And soon this pile of trash…forgotten passions, failed fame, tarnished desires becomes a mountain and monument to the failures of the flesh.
I so long to make choices that please God. I want to want what God wants. I want to desire what he wants in my life, but I must admit I too often fall short. The monument to the failures of our fleshly desires should remind us that the flesh will never satisfy, it simply can’t.
I long to follow Paul’s advice as he speaks to the Colossian church and writes,
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
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