Playing Dead
Romans 6:11 "In the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus"
As you know I have 3 of my 5 grandchildren here. And by the way in June, there will be six. Anyway, yesterday after church, the boys and I watched Over The Hedge. For those of you who do not know, it is about a group of animals, all hibernators, who sort of invade a human neighborhood to gather food. In this movie, there is a turtle, a skunk, a squirrel and a couple of possums. The daddy possum is continually telling his baby possum to "Play dead so that you can live". And throughout the movie, whenever it suits them, they play dead.
Yesterday, Ned' s sermon was about sin and how it entraps us, and yet we still play with it. We get as close as we can to it. We convince ourselves that sin is truth and that God really doesn't care since of course, He loves us and wants us to be happy. And then before we know it we are ensnared. We play with sin because we look at it and according to the book of James, we want it.
What do these two paragraphs have to do with each other? Is there a point to this? Absolutely!!! It seems to me that one who was dead to sin would not, could not look at it and want it. They couldn't---wouldn't play with it. One who was dead to sin would have nothing at all to do with it. So, I wonder whether we are indeed dead to sin or just playing "possum"----playing dead.
In the movie and in real life, possums play dead for self-preservation. They are not a threat when they seem dead and so other animals leave them alone. They play dead so they have life. Spiritually playing dead does the opposite. It causes us to be unprotected and will lead to death.
When we just pretend to be dead to sin, we leave ourselves open and vulnerable to Satan who according to I Peter 5 is seeking to devour us. Playing dead doesn't fool him.
Our spiritual walk is not trivial, it is a daily life and death decision. We cannot afford to "play" at any part of it. We must truly die to sin in order to live to God. The next part of the passage goes---"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master." How cool is that?
Neva
As you know I have 3 of my 5 grandchildren here. And by the way in June, there will be six. Anyway, yesterday after church, the boys and I watched Over The Hedge. For those of you who do not know, it is about a group of animals, all hibernators, who sort of invade a human neighborhood to gather food. In this movie, there is a turtle, a skunk, a squirrel and a couple of possums. The daddy possum is continually telling his baby possum to "Play dead so that you can live". And throughout the movie, whenever it suits them, they play dead.
Yesterday, Ned' s sermon was about sin and how it entraps us, and yet we still play with it. We get as close as we can to it. We convince ourselves that sin is truth and that God really doesn't care since of course, He loves us and wants us to be happy. And then before we know it we are ensnared. We play with sin because we look at it and according to the book of James, we want it.
What do these two paragraphs have to do with each other? Is there a point to this? Absolutely!!! It seems to me that one who was dead to sin would not, could not look at it and want it. They couldn't---wouldn't play with it. One who was dead to sin would have nothing at all to do with it. So, I wonder whether we are indeed dead to sin or just playing "possum"----playing dead.
In the movie and in real life, possums play dead for self-preservation. They are not a threat when they seem dead and so other animals leave them alone. They play dead so they have life. Spiritually playing dead does the opposite. It causes us to be unprotected and will lead to death.
When we just pretend to be dead to sin, we leave ourselves open and vulnerable to Satan who according to I Peter 5 is seeking to devour us. Playing dead doesn't fool him.
Our spiritual walk is not trivial, it is a daily life and death decision. We cannot afford to "play" at any part of it. We must truly die to sin in order to live to God. The next part of the passage goes---"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master." How cool is that?
Neva
posted by Neva | 9:34 AM
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