Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14 ESV)
Be awake walking in the light of God. Casting of the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light.
Do not be a part of orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarreling or jealousy…
OK carefully examine that list again… How many of you can say you have not done anything on the list. Show of hands please…
Are you sure? Read the list again… Now from personal experience I can say I’m sure I’m at fault for everything on the list except one. Most of us have probably not been involved in an orgy. Most of us have probably been drunk at least once in our lives (that is of course if you are over 21…) Most of us would say that we have not been sexually immoral, but I would ask what does this mean? What is sexually immoral, sleeping around? What about sodomy? “Wait a minute”, I can hear you say, “I have never committed sodomy!” Well maybe not in the sense you are now thinking but what does sodomy mean? According to Merriam Websters Online sodomy is “anal or oral copulation with a member of the same or opposite sex”. So have you still not committed sodomy? We have all probably been sensual… think about how you are dressed the next time you leave your house… I am sure we have all quarreled with some one, and if you were ever in high school you were jealous…
So what does Paul mean here when most of us have failed miserably before we ever really get to begin? It is about being in the light and putting off the flesh. The flesh is that part of us that works for self preservation, that looks out for ourselves. We need to throw that person away and look out for the other, for the last, lost, least, little in society. We need to think about everyone else before ourselves. That is putting off the flesh…
So put off those desires to lift yourself up and lift up your neighbor…
aSacredRebel 