Read: Romans 13:14, James 1:13-15, Philippians 4:8
In the early 1990s there was a television advertisement for Pepsi that featured a famous American basketball player. One very young fan, who is holding an ice cold Pepsi, looks on with amazement as the player joins in on the game of basketball that the kids are playing. After the game the player looks for a drink and sees the young fan. Coming over to him the player reaches out as if to ask for the bottle of Pepsi. The young fan’s response? “Don’t even think about it!”
This is essentially what Paul is saying here in Romans 13. They are to clothe themselves with Christ and to grow in holiness. Part of this is that they are not even to think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. They are to be so serious about dealing with sin in their lives and living in a way that is fitting with Christ’s imminent return that they are not even to think about how to satisfy their sinful desires.
A number of places in Scripture we see that sinful actions begin in our hearts and in our minds. James gives us a powerful illustration of this process. We are not tempted by God, we are tempted by our own sinful desires. As we think about how to satisfy these desires and we dwell on sinful things we are dragged away and enticed. These sinful thoughts turn into sinful actions and we reap the brokenness and consequences that come from our sinful deeds.
You can see why Paul would command that we don’t even think about how to satisfy the sinful desires of our flesh. Instead we are to deliberately turn our minds towards wholesome and holy things. Instead of thinking about sinful things we are to turn our minds towards pure and righteous things. This is the exhortation that Paul gives the believers in Phillipi, to turn their mind towards good and noble things. If we are serious about our faith and serious about dealing with sin we must turn our thinking away from sinful things towards holy and righteous things.
Think of what this would look like in your life. Rather than thinking and plotting how to satisfy your greedy desires to grow your wealth and get that bigger and better stuff you turn your mind towards the ultimate satisfaction that can be found in Christ alone. Rather than think about how to get others to serve your own
This applies even beyond our own personal struggles. Paul has been talking about how believers are to be devoted in loving and serving one another. We are not to even think about how others in the church could satisfy our own sinful needs or desires, instead we are to turn our minds towards how we can love and serve others. We don’t even think about how we can use people to get love and satisfaction for ourselves, we think about how we can provide that love and satisfaction for others. When it comes to sinful desires…”Don’t even think about it!”
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray that God would be working in your mind today to turn your thoughts away from sinful things towards wholesome things. Pray that He would be changing your heart.
¥ Pray for the families of those who came to Extreme Week. Pray that God would be working powerfully in the hearts of all those who were involved.
One way that God works to change our thinking and to change our hearts is through His word. The Psalmist found this also, that God’s Law (word) would change his thinking and his heart. Take some time to read through Psalm 119 and notice how God’s Word changed the Psalmist and helped him grow.
1. What are some strategies you could employ to turn your mind away from sinful things towards Godly things?
2. How could you help one another in this area?
Intro: We spend a lot of time thinking! During the whole day we are always thinking and learning.
Share: What are some of the things that you think about? What do you think about when you are at school?
Read: Romans 13:14 Paul says we should be so serious about living how God wants us to live that we don’t even think about sin! What is sin? What could we do to stop ourselves thinking about sin? Who could we ask for help when we are having trouble? What could we think about instead of thinking about sin?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help us not to think about sin but to think about Him instead.
Read: Romans 13:14 Paul says we should be so serious about living how God wants us to live that we don’t even think about sin! What is sin? What could we do to stop ourselves thinking about sin? Who could we ask for help when we are having trouble? What could we think about instead of thinking about sin?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help us not to think about sin but to think about Him instead.
Intro: We spend a lot of time thinking! During the whole day we are always thinking and learning.
Share: What are some of the things that you think about? What do you think about when you are at school?
Read: Romans 13:14 Paul says we should be so serious about living how God wants us to live that we don’t even think about sin! What is sin? What could we do to stop ourselves thinking about sin? Who could we ask for help when we are having trouble? What could we think about instead of thinking about sin?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help us not to think about sin but to think about Him instead.
Read: Romans 13:14 Paul says we should be so serious about living how God wants us to live that we don’t even think about sin! What is sin? What could we do to stop ourselves thinking about sin? Who could we ask for help when we are having trouble? What could we think about instead of thinking about sin?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help us not to think about sin but to think about Him instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment