O wretched man that I am... part 2!

As we continue to ponder on “O wretched man that I am” we must understand our dilemma is not without hope. Yes we have a desperately wicked heart if left to our own devises, I needed be told; I know what I am callable of, as time and my journey through life has proved it to me. “O wretched man that I am I who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. And I speak as a man after salvation, after new birth experience! My journey as a Christian and my life filled with such hypocrisy at times that I feel I should stop striking this key-board. But, I cannot, for if I did I would yield to the old wretched man and not embrace the new spiritual man.

This now must be the mind-set of every believer, regardless of our past; “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

Let us never lose sight of our deliverance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ along the way. For if we do, our days will be full of worldly sorrow, and the woe is me syndrome, will fill our lives. We will find ourselves never looking to do good as we end up feeding this “wretched man” and this is not the call for the Christian as we are to put off the old and put on the new. Old things have passed away and behold all things are now new, or are they? We need to examine our lives and daily at that.

I have purposefully put these thoughts out as I want us to think hard on this topic, there seems to be so many contradicting verses on this subject, but we know that there can never be any contradiction with God nor His Word as He is perfect. The bible teachers us to put off evil thoughts, why then without much thought do they find us? Our eyes wander even when we have resolved for them not to wonder, why?

It is only our understanding that confuses us. Therefore we need to understand in order to find freedom in order to walk circumspectly before this Holy God, our Father! He loves to bless His children in and through His Son, and how we love to be the recipients of that blessing. I know I do! Let us therefore pause for a breath of fresh air and let our brother Charles Spurgeon breath His daily devotion into our minds reasoning…

“Christ, who is our life.”

- Col_3:4

Paul’s marvellously rich expression indicates, that Christ is the source of our life. “You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by his life that we live; he is in us, the hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus’ flesh and blood? “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits, except ye find it in him! Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come from him; and in times of trouble, his presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but him; and his lovingkindness is better than life! Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes the believer towards the haven of his Saviour’s bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain, and is crowned in his captain’s victory, so the believer contends for Christ, and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master. “For him to live is Christ.” Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without; and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow like him. We shall set him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in his footsteps, until he shall become the crown of our life in glory. Oh! how safe, how honoured, how happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life! (Charles Spurgeon)

Since Christ is our Life! This is where I want our minds to spring from when we consider “O wretched man that I am!”

Until tomorrow then,

Signing off

Tyrone