Provisions for Shadows
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Romans 13:14
This verse stood out to me this morning for a couple of reasons. First, it comes at the end of a paragraph where Paul is encouraging and instructing the readers on how to live out their salvation. This is a great image of how our flesh is full of selfish desires that if we make any provisions for it, those desires will be gratified. So from a literary standpoint, I like the weight this verse puts on the flesh. It's like you can feel the struggle in the opposites of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making provisions for the flesh.
The second reason I like this is that this verse is wisdom. Paul knows that if you make any provision. And by a provision, I read it as allowing a circumstance or situation that will provide the enemy a chance to tempt you further with that shadow. For example, I struggle with lust so watching a TV show like Game of Thrones which has sex scenes is allowing a provision for the flesh. It will wave a shadow of images into my brain that my flesh will desire and want to gratify. It is way easier to battle lust when you are not in a situation where those shadows are being presented before you.
This speaks to the relentlessness that we have to take to battle sin. The way I look at it is that the enemy is doing everything in his power to throw shadow after shadow in your face -he even uses scripture and will try to justify it in any way possible. That dude is relentless. Why not have to be relentless back. Sure it seems like a sacrifice of fun and freedom but honestly, you are just putting the chains of slavery of sin back on when you allow those shadows in. When you make provision for shadows it will lead to slavery and rob you of freedom.
It's not a do this don't do that, that Paul is going for. In the end, he is wanting people to be free. We have to give up these shadows for the light. It is worth it.
So we have to be vigilant about the provisions we allow in our life. Maybe it's the shows you watch on TV, maybe its the music you listen to, maybe it's the things you are reading, or even the route you take to work that always has that billboard or whatever. We have to make the choices to remove all possible things that hinder us from freedom. And the enemy is crafty. He wants to tell you, "its ok, really" "everyone else is watching that" "what will you have to talk about with your friends" "you won't get that reference if you don't watch". Maybe our decisions not to partake in those things will spur on another conversation about what freedom we have. Because freedom is there apart from the shadows.
This verse stood out to me this morning for a couple of reasons. First, it comes at the end of a paragraph where Paul is encouraging and instructing the readers on how to live out their salvation. This is a great image of how our flesh is full of selfish desires that if we make any provisions for it, those desires will be gratified. So from a literary standpoint, I like the weight this verse puts on the flesh. It's like you can feel the struggle in the opposites of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making provisions for the flesh.
The second reason I like this is that this verse is wisdom. Paul knows that if you make any provision. And by a provision, I read it as allowing a circumstance or situation that will provide the enemy a chance to tempt you further with that shadow. For example, I struggle with lust so watching a TV show like Game of Thrones which has sex scenes is allowing a provision for the flesh. It will wave a shadow of images into my brain that my flesh will desire and want to gratify. It is way easier to battle lust when you are not in a situation where those shadows are being presented before you.
This speaks to the relentlessness that we have to take to battle sin. The way I look at it is that the enemy is doing everything in his power to throw shadow after shadow in your face -he even uses scripture and will try to justify it in any way possible. That dude is relentless. Why not have to be relentless back. Sure it seems like a sacrifice of fun and freedom but honestly, you are just putting the chains of slavery of sin back on when you allow those shadows in. When you make provision for shadows it will lead to slavery and rob you of freedom.
It's not a do this don't do that, that Paul is going for. In the end, he is wanting people to be free. We have to give up these shadows for the light. It is worth it.
So we have to be vigilant about the provisions we allow in our life. Maybe it's the shows you watch on TV, maybe its the music you listen to, maybe it's the things you are reading, or even the route you take to work that always has that billboard or whatever. We have to make the choices to remove all possible things that hinder us from freedom. And the enemy is crafty. He wants to tell you, "its ok, really" "everyone else is watching that" "what will you have to talk about with your friends" "you won't get that reference if you don't watch". Maybe our decisions not to partake in those things will spur on another conversation about what freedom we have. Because freedom is there apart from the shadows.
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