Are You Ready to Die?
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).
How easy it is in today’s society to declare, “I am a Christian,” but how hard it can be to walk the walk sometimes. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,” said Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I expect many people are as afraid to die to their flesh as they are for their flesh to die.
This evening, my Walk of Repentance Bible study focused on Galatians 5:16-26. So much is contained in those eleven verses which start with, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (v. 16, emphasis added). It goes on to list the lusts of the flesh versus the fruits of the Spirit. It’s sobering to compare the two lists and ask yourself, “In which category do I exhibit the most traits?” When you compare yourself with others, it’s easy to feel good about yourself but, when you look into the mirror of God’s Word, that is when you see what you are really like without His Spirit. It is not a pretty sight.
One of the things Steve Gallagher mentioned in this study was, “If we attempt to obey the Law outside of the Spirit, we will soon find ourselves becoming hard-hearted, self-righteous, and contemptuous of others.” So the answer is not just doing good. Therefore, the question is, How do I become filled with the Spirit?
This is not something one can conjure or “will” into existence. Instead, you must surrender every part of yourself to Christ. You must turn off the entertainment and spend more time with Him. You must study His Word to learn what He desires of you, and then do it. Let Christ chip away every bit of stone around your heart so that His Spirit can fill in the gaps. As this happens, your desires will change so that you want to do the right things for the right reasons.
As I mentioned in the beginning, dying to self is not an easy process, but this death is the only one that will bring everlasting life.
Good reminder, Thank you!
I thought of this video I saw quite some time back. Hope you enjoy it.