Me and My Shadow

Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong, will go wrong. The fall, in the Garden of Eden, cursed all of creation. The choices of Adam and Eve were against God’s will and brought sin into man’s life. Some people theorize that Peter stands at the gates of Heaven, welcoming all the Saints home, but I bet it’s really Adam and Eve saying “I’m sorry” to everyone that enters. Poor Adam and Eve!

Throughout the Bible we see clearly that the world we live in, the physical and spiritual world, is fallen and under the curse of sin. We can see the death, disease and disaster that thrive in the world around us. Because of sin, mankind was separated from God and in need of redemption through our Savior. Jesus died on the cross and rose again because he loves us immensely. The redemption that he offers restores our relationship with our Father and completely pays for our sin debt. We are born again, new creations! However, as Paul explains in Romans, even after we are reborn in Christ and are freed from the curse of sin, we still carry the effects of our sinful nature while in this life. This ‘body of death’ is like our shadow – it goes everywhere we go and is always lurking around behind us, trying to pull us back into the dark. God told Cain to watch out – sin was lying just outside the door, waiting to pounce! We can’t escape it. Where ever I go, my shadow follows. I catch myself making some of the same old mistakes, choosing the wrong paths, even when I know better. I have quoted Paul’s words many times – “I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate. I do what I don’t want to do.” We see the struggle we all face as believers, the tug-of-war, the potential Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde syndrome, the 9-round shadow boxing match going on inside our souls.

Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story called “The Shadow” in which a good man’s wicked shadow separated from him and became fatter and richer than his former master. The shadow attributed this to his realistic acceptance of evil in the world as opposed to the man’s naive faith in good, beauty and truth. The shadow tempted the good man to become like him but the man refused. The story ended with the evil shadow having the good man executed. Fortunately for us, the real story has the opposite ending – God will do away with sin and we will be transformed, to live forever in the presence of the light of Christ - no shadows allowed! The bible makes it clear that we will be victorious because Jesus has already won the fight for us:

-          1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

How do you get rid of a shadow? You turn up the light! The more we live in the Light (Jesus), the less effect our sinful nature will have on our thoughts, our feelings, our motives and our decisions. But this takes time and maturity so keep up the good fight! Remember, shadows hide behind you when you face the Light!

Read: Romans 7:14-8:2

Pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for the light you have shone in my heart and my life. Without you I would still be in the dark. Please let the light of Christ fill me and shine through me to others. Amen

This New Year is not about ME

You were made for God’s glory, to put God first in every aspect of your life. You are his representative in this place, in this time. The bible says that if you are in Christ then your life is not your own. Jesus summed up all of the commandments in these two: love God first, love others second. Not once does he say that he saved us so we could live self-focused lives. As we begin a new year full of hope, mighty expectations and incredible opportunity, let’s remember that it’s not about us. I was not made for ME, I was made for God. Instead of handing God a wish list for the year let’s hand him the title, the deed to our lives, full and free. It’s nice to have goals but when we focus entirely on ourselves we block God’s voice and direction and we lose sight of our intended ministry to the people in our lives that God wants us to love. In Ezekiel God explains how he wants to cleanse us, give us a new heart and put his Holy Spirit within us. He also explains WHY… for HIS sake, not for ours.

If you want a closer, more intimate relationship with God this year, let it be about him and those you are to love, not about yourself. That’s my new year’s resolution!

Ezekiel 36:22-32

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.