Sacrifice

Philippians 3:11 That by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

That by any means possible. Am I willing to do or to give up anything for my salvation?  This brings to mind how tightly I used to hold onto things of the flesh and some things, which normally wouldn’t be a stumbling block to me, become one quite quickly. If things become a stumbling block to me, and if God required me to lay that down, would I?  I cannot do this on my own strength. My heart is willing but my flesh is weak. I may attain the resurrection from the dead. For me this means a resurrected new life with Christ. Not just dying to myself but acknowledging that without God, I am dead. I’m nothing but dry bones with no life without God.  The world tries to convince me that there’s life in it, and for a long time I believed it. That the flashy loud things I was presented with was actually life. After all, it seemed so teeming with life and there was always something new. But God opened my eyes and now I see these things for what they truly are; dead crawling things, trying to claw at me and drag me down with them in sin. But God has offered resurrection from that. Resurrection from sin and my weak flesh. From fleeting happiness to true joy. From pride to humbleness. From selfishness into selflessness. And how better these alternatives are! The happiness of the world quickly fades, but the joy of the Lord is eternal and so is life in Him. Looking at it from this perspective it truly makes my actions and my refusal to let go seem even more absurd. Yet the heart is willing but the flesh is weak. The only way I can turn from sin is to confess it to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness and for His strength to overcome it.  

Application:  I will seek out a means of dying to myself today and my wants.