The Will

(Romans 7:21) “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”

The will as opposed to the will! That seems to contradict, but does it? When we understand that we have two wills at war in our members (our body), then we at least understand what is going on in our lives on a daily basis. The spirit within, Christ spirit wills us to do the will of the Father and the lust that drive our bodies wills us to feed them, whatever they may be. The range is vast, from polluted thoughts to eating disorders. From being tender heartened to just plan mean, from lashing out with our tongues to praising with them and from resisting temptation or succumbing to it. The list is vast, but we are all aware of this ongoing battle. On reflection, I stand amazed at the Lord Jesus’ victory, the bible tells us that He was tempted in all points like we are and yet without sin. What is just as mesmerizing is that we know what we should do in any given situation but how often do we go the wrong way and choose sin over righteousness; it shouldn’t be like this! We know we should love and yet we vindicate, we know we should lay down our lives and yet we rather choose self over others, and the list goes on.

How much do we owe the Lord? Has He ever done anything for you? We know He has forgiven us our sins; He has covered us with robes of righteousness and written our names down in the book of life. The storerooms of mercies await all God’s children, “eye has not seen nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has in store for those who love Him.” It would be good to think of how much our Lord has loved us;” Love should give wings to the feet of service, and strength to the arms of labour.”

Over the years I have made some seriously bad decisions but I would like to point out a particular mindset that we must avoid at all costs. On reflection of my life, in hindsight, I must warn you not to make the same mistake as the price will be costly. I recall a particular sin that held me in bondage and is common to many, I will not name it as we all have our cross to bear and I do not want to take away from your exacting struggle. The temptation to give in and I mean when you say in your heart, “I have tried to have victory in this area of my life, but without much success.” We must continue to pursue God’s righteousness even if we fall in the same area every day. The problem is our will, when my will decided that I could not have victory, it decided to try and ignore the sin and how it did that was to try and act as if it wasn’t happening. Like an actor pretending to be someone else, rather ridiculous I know! Nevertheless by acting out this mindset I ended up being the actor and almost found myself in some gutter begging bread, well not quite, but you get my point.

Let me spell it out, if there is anything in your life that you are aware of that should not be allowed to live freely then we must continue on a daily basis to confess it before our heavenly Father striving against sin. Let me be very clear, I battle probably more than most and am not for one minute suggesting that I am walking in victory in all areas of my life, but what I will say, is my resolve is to please my Father even though I often disappoint. It is when we want to disregard a particular issue that we find in bondage to it, when we try and pretend it is not serious, that is when we remain stagnant in our spiritual growth and often end up as backslidden or disobedient children.

Paul puts it to us like this; although our lustful will can never choose what is right and always hankers after sin our minds can take on thoughts of righteousness and will us to do the right thing.

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

Signing off

Tyrone