Girl one
The
desire to satisfy the flesh. How much time and energy go into this purpose.
Jesus said: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we
eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run
after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well," (Matthew 6:31-33).
An
unfortunate thing that happened to Christians, especially those in Western
countries, is that we got merged strongly with materialism, entertainment, and sport. In the above reference Jesus
distinguished between pagans and Christians. This distinction is something that
only a
few Christians through the ages were able to make, and because of it many were
rendered powerless.
Jesus
said to the rich young ruler, after he declared that he does live a good life
and obeys all the rules: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your
possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, follow me," (Matthew 19:21"), and also to his
disciples when he sent them out: "Do not take along any gold or silver or
copper in your belts; Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals
or a staff; for the worker is worth his
keep," (Matthew 10:9-10).
We
learned in the previous message that
Jesus was completely content with the presence of the Holy Spirit in Him. This
is the distinction between the Christian and the pagan. Both need something to
bring contentment. Jesus said: "Foxes have holes and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head," (Matthew 8:20).
I’m
sure Jesus could have had a wife and a home if he wanted to. He could have had
cattle and other belongings too. It was within His power to decide. But He had
the Holy Spirit as his companion and much too much to do in order for carnal
satisfaction to get in the way.
The pagans
do not have a Holy Spirit to fulfill their needs. So, as Jesus
said, they must find something to bring fulfillment and therefore run after
material things. In Matthew 6:32-33 Jesus’ words can be
rephrased as follows and one can almost sense contempt: “Listen, if you want to ‘lower’ yourselves
to the level of the pagans by seeking carnal satisfaction in order to get
fulfillment, suit yourselves. But you, being kings, have a Father who will fulfill your every need
as long as you just busy yourselves with making known His kingdom and building a relationship with Him.”
Our
problem, however, is that our standards concerning carnal needs are much higher
than those of God. We think we need much more than God thinks we need because
we are influenced by the pagans. And, like the rich young man, we have
difficulty to let go of our carnal contentment in exchange for Holy
Spirit contentment. “Jesus answered,
'If you want to be
perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' When the young man
heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth," (Matthew 19:21, 22).
I have focused on materialism in the above discussion, but
satisfying the flesh includes any excess interest in entertainment of any form
at the cost of obedience to the Lord and serving Him actively with your
gifting. How much precious time is wasted on self indulgence in any form?
Having and doing too much of anything that is not of God puts us in the shoes
of the rich young man.
"When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he
had great wealth." Lets put your name in this sentence: When YOUR NAME heard this, he went away sad,
because he had to sacrifice watching television, OR When YOUR NAME heard
this, he went away sad, because he had to let go of a certain sport
addiction, OR When YOUR NAME heard this, he went away sad, because he had
to sacrifice a social lifestyle. As you can see there are many things
that satisfy your flesh, standing in the way of an adventurous relationship
with the Holy Spirit in obeying His continuous instruction.
There is, however, a much subtler deception when it comes to
satisfying the flesh and entertainment. We have mentioned in the previous
message that Christianity outside a personal relationship with God is boring. Some
churches therefore make their services fun to attend. How entertaining can mass
worship, led by a dynamic music band and worship leader be? How entertaining
can a charismatic preacher be? You
feel so good when you leave the church service. You feel better about yourself.
But what difference has it made to your relationship with the Lord? Are you serving and obeying Him, according to His plan for your life, during the week as a result of attending
such a church? Do you use your gift to make a difference in the lives of those the Lord loves so much? Or do you live
for the kick you're going to receive next Sunday. The same applies to Christian
television and radio.
Can you see the danger? Is your life really about the Lord and His desires? Is your two-way radio switched on, or is church just
one of the prostitutes to satisfy you? (To be continued)
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