Greetings my dear
I pray your weekend was restful. Mine was, and I am thankful. I once went with a friend to the mechanic to get her car diagnosed and the imagery remained with me as I reflected on today’s Holy Nougat
“So then, my brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to.” Romans 8:12 GNB
Isn’t it funny, how our system (Human nature) would have us operating contrary to God’s plan and purpose for our lives? And yet, there’s an out. For God doesn’t ask of us that which is impossible for us to do BY God’s grace. If we think ourselves capable of aligning ourselves to God in our strength, let’s think again.
Godly alignment goes against our sin nature, which unfortunately, is our default setting. Earlier in this chapter (ie Romans, we are treated to an extensive discourse on what constitutes our sin nature and how we are drawn by it. And, had it all ended there, we really would be objects of pity.
It’s like most machines tho; they work just fine, but after extended use they must be recalibrated. And just as machines have several working parts requiring different types of repair work, so it is with us – our system is capable of many spiritual malfunctions that require intensive repairs to keep us growing and living abundantly.
But God’s grace flips the script.
And by God’s grace we can overcome. But we have to want to change. That’s where yieldedness comes in. We conquer our sin nature (flesh) by giving priority to God. No other way around it. Thanks be to God, even when our sin nature kicks in, God’s Spirit is forever ready to get us back on track. We alone decide whether we really wish to get realigned to God, and the frequency.
When a car requires a tuneup, we see a check engine light blinking on the dash. In some fancy models, the car stops completely if not attended to in due time. Many repair shops have a special computer that’s then plugged to the car and the perfect diagnosis is made. God’s Spirit is ‘plugged’ to ours the moment we yield to Christ. And if we listen closely, we can receive our ‘check engine’ signal. With one whisper, we are in the repair shop and are realigned.
I invite us today, to watch for the check engine light, and to stay yielded to God’s Spirit.
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
