Romans 13:11-14
11 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. 12 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. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
After commanding us to "cast off" (verse 12) "sexual immorality" (verse 13), we are then told to "make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (verse 14). So what does it mean to make no provision for the flesh and its desires? I think that one implication of this is to avoid gray areas. Often it is not the blatant temptation that trips me up but the subtle one. The NIV translates verse 14 as "do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature". Our problems often start in our mind, when we starting thinking and fantasizing about a situation or person. There is usually a substantial period of time where we mentally dwell on our desire before we ever act upon it. In that sense we are "making provision" for the desire by allowing it to grow in our mind. By thinking about it we stoke the flames, giving energy to the desire, and making it harder to control. The sooner we can change our thoughts, to "put on the armor of light" (verse 12), the easier it will be to keep our thoughts and actions pure.
Lord, I confess to often dwelling on impure thoughts. Please help me to take action against those thoughts, and to think Your thoughts.
11 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. 12 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. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
After commanding us to "cast off" (verse 12) "sexual immorality" (verse 13), we are then told to "make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (verse 14). So what does it mean to make no provision for the flesh and its desires? I think that one implication of this is to avoid gray areas. Often it is not the blatant temptation that trips me up but the subtle one. The NIV translates verse 14 as "do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature". Our problems often start in our mind, when we starting thinking and fantasizing about a situation or person. There is usually a substantial period of time where we mentally dwell on our desire before we ever act upon it. In that sense we are "making provision" for the desire by allowing it to grow in our mind. By thinking about it we stoke the flames, giving energy to the desire, and making it harder to control. The sooner we can change our thoughts, to "put on the armor of light" (verse 12), the easier it will be to keep our thoughts and actions pure.
Lord, I confess to often dwelling on impure thoughts. Please help me to take action against those thoughts, and to think Your thoughts.