Dead Flesh

You know, this isn't anything new or fantastic. There's no new revelation here. But, it's something that I need to be frequently reminded of as I seek to follow my Lord. I was reading today in Romans 8, and verse 13 jumped out at me...
...for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The truth of the matter is that the flesh is going to die! Period! Sometimes we live as if our flesh will only die if we choose to live by the Spirit. We fight God's leadership and direction. We fight the steps of obedience He's leading us into because it's a frightening thing to step out in faith without clearly seeing what's to come. We think we'll be alright as long as we just keep control of our lives. But in reality, nothing will stop the death of the flesh. We might slow it down by continuing to live like the world because truly surrendering to the Spirit's leadership results in a much quicker death of the flesh. But, it's still going to die. There's nothing we can do to stop it.

As I type, I'm looking at the beautiful floral arrangement adorning the top of my sewing cabinet. Our church blessed us with this gorgeous fall arrangement as part of their pastor appreciation gift this month. We put it on the high cabinet to protect it from our rambunctious kittens and ornery mama cat. We have kept it watered to keep the petals beautiful for as long as possible. But, the truth of the matter is that those flowers are already dead. They will never grow again. I can't take them out to the yard and start a flower garden with them. As much as I water and protect them, at some point over the coming days they will inevitably wilt and lose their beauty. Every bit of beauty they have now is a remnant of their life.

Our flesh is the same. It's already dead. It's just a matter of time before it loses all of the effects of life because it can never attain the reality of life. Unlike my flowers, though, the flesh has no beauty to its decay. There is nothing good that comes from hanging on to the flesh just a little while longer until death finally takes over. Why should we? If we simply choose to put the deeds of the flesh to death once and for all, we will have incredible life waiting for us! Let's not hang on to that dead body. Let's get rid of it! It's dead anyway - why should we hang on to the dead when we can grab on to the living!