Meditation
Written by Jennifer Woodruff Tait, the managing editor of Christian History Magazine. This is an excerpt from her devotion “To Set the Mind on the Flesh is Death.”
Jesus sets us free from the sinful things we have done ourselves and are ashamed of, and from the sins that grow out of the sinful things others have done to us, and from the complex interplay of sin and death and flesh in all of our lives that enmeshes us in systems of sin. There is no catch. Paul could not be clearer: Jesus paid it all, as the old hymn says…We are not to set our mind on the things of the flesh. Only death lies that way. We are to set our mind on the things of the Spirit, and doing so will bring us life and peace beyond our wild imaginings.
In the turbulent times that face us now, this is a good reminder and an essential truth. In one of the confession prayers from my tradition, we repent of “the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.” In each of our lives, in our families and workplaces, in our public statements and private thoughts, we need to think through how we have participated in the fallen world of death and how we can seek out the redemptive world of the Spirit instead. Because, truth be told, Jesus is already seeking us. Jesus stands ready to make us more than conquerors over that fallen world if we but let him conquer the sin in and around us.
Prayer
Written by Jennifer Woodruff Tait, author of today’s devotion.
Lord Jesus, keep us in Romans, Chapter 8. Help us remember that you paid it all; there is no condemnation in you, and when we confess our sin and receive your forgiveness, we are given freedom for life in the Spirit. Help us walk in the Spirit’s life every day. Amen.
Pathways Press.com 