I have a great friend…like a Jonathan in my life who happens to be a life long bodybuilder. He’s good at what he does to say the least. I don’t think he has eaten a cookie in 25 years or longer! His loss? Not if you ask him. He is dedicated to seeking the Lord for what his body should have in it. What a privilege to have learned so much from him over the years. But I still enjoy cookies! haha
In working out with him he would say, “kill the meat,” then your done! What that meant was far more than just testosterone driven terms that seem good in his gym (to which we named, Bethel). To kill the meat meant to work out with purpose in every rep. To think through what you are doing. Your form, your body & the oxygenation to the muscle. It too meant to do this until your muscle is done, finished, no longer able to go! You could always do more, but the potential for harm would go up considerably because you have already, “killed the meat!” There is a time where you have done just enough. No more is needed.
When we think of getting rid of things that hinder our walks with Christ, I can think of it as killing the meat. What I mean here is that amputation of your phone, tv, etc…can get tiresome over time. You do well, and then you fall to something else. The pattern goes on and on. But what amputation of these items does is make it quite tiresome to find the password or by-pass the road blocks that have been set. Do you get my meaning. Over the time of my life, I have amputated time and time again. And over time I have fought and fought to once again get through the blocks to watch more of what I wanted. Many just give up the fight all together. But don’t do that! Keep on with the seesaw gyration of amputating and then not amputating if we must! Over time what we hope will happen is we will become a worn out rebel! Too tired to break back into the enemies castle. What was once an exciting venture in our youth (not so much age) our knees cannot take anymore. Our hands hurt. The back is damaged. It is just too tuff muster the energy and fight to rebel anymore. We have now surrendered. Yet in doing so, we found the peace we sought at the beginning of it all!
This is where the Lord will take us in our rebellion from his ways when we enter into sexual sin. He is patient and longsuffering. Much more than you or I. He will wait it out! Until then. Keep amputating until you are too pooped to fight against the blocks that have been put in place. May then the white flag be raised!
And if your hand–even your stronger hand–causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:30
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9