DAILY?READINGS: Deut. 23:9 to 24:22; Jonah 1-2; Luke 12:41-59
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed… Romans 6:6
The river catfish is a bottom feeder. It loves the muck and has sharp stingers. When caught it will eventully stop gasping for air and appear to be dead, only to thrash its stingers when someone comes near. The sin nature is like that. Though rendered a death blow at the cross, our old nature can still “gasp for air” and show itself alive. It is our responsibility to deny our old man his habitat and to not allow him back into the water, so to speak. Once it is back in the muck it so loves to feed on, we will find that it gains strength quickly. —Shane Johnson
Call me away from flesh and sense,
One sov’reign word can draw me hence;
I would obey the voice divine, and all inferior joys resign.
—I. Watts