There is nowhere that the battle between the flesh and the Spirit rages with more force in my life than in the area of my devotional disciplines. I, like Peter, James, and John in the Garden of Gethsemane, have to be reawakened far too often by the Lord and told to watch and pray lest I enter into temptation!
As soon as the alarm goes off in the morning, the flesh reaches out a determined finger and shuts it off, so the rest of me can sink into unconsciousness again. The flesh has won! It seems such an easy thing to do - to get up one half-hour earlier than planned in order to meet with God. But the devil knows how important it is and will bring all his forces to bear on the one who determines to pray and study God’s Word. As the saying goes, “The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”
The devil will try and busy us with doing for God instead of being with God. A focus on God things - instead of God Himself - is a common way he tempts the old nature in us. The self-nature likes to do God’s business, but finds it goes against his self-righteous nature to simply be in God’s holy presence and do personal business.
As soon as I began my Christian walk, I became aware of this daily battle within. I talked to many people about it, trying to figure out how I could best make sure I did what the Spirit wanted me to do. I could have a well-thought-out plan to set aside time, put it on my calendar, and follow through. I could read books and listen to tapes on the subject. But in the end it came down to my will or won’t!
I thought about the sheep in Psalm 23 and realized the shepherd did not move their little mouths up and down to make them chew on grass. He provided the grass, but they had to settle down and digest it! It would be so much easier if we didn’t have a choice, yet God gives us a will to exercise. And who would want to be a puppet on a string rather than a human being with the chance to choose?
The problem I have is that this is a daily choice. I have learned the old nature in me will feel as sleepy tomorrow as it did yesterday! For the rest of my life, I will have to take my will in hand and let the alarm do its work - get up and get on with it. Yesterday’s victory over the flesh will not “dribble” over into today.
One thing I try to do day by day that really helps me exercise my will rightly is to remember the time I sang the beautiful hymn “Take My Life” right from my heart. Particularly the verse that says, “Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine.” I remember making a promise that my will was His forever. Since then, day by day I need to ratify that original commitment on a moment by moment basis. This way I will “keep in step with the Spirit” instead of running ahead of Him or tripping over my own fleshly feet!
