To live all in we must be ready to separate ourselves from our old lives. It is true that we still have to walk in this broken work as believers, but it doesn’t mean we have to conform to it. We can rise above the normal and claim a high moral standard in the way we live our lives.
“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”
Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT
THROW off your old sinful nature and former way of life. If we slowly peel it away we may desire to keep parts, as a reminder of the ‘good’ times. These ‘good’ time memories will then tempt us to participate in them again leading us back into our former ways. To throw something off is an almost violent act with pushes the sinful nature away from you. The old saying goes rip it off like a band-aid, it may sting for a second but that is only a temporary pain.
LET the Spirit renew. To let someone do something requires permission. This action of allowing the Holy Spirit to renew your thoughts and attitudes cannot be imposed on us, it must be welcomed by us. If we don’t accept the Holy Spirits renewal then we will begin to look for the things we threw off to fill those areas we emptied.
PUT on the new nature. Finally like the action of putting on clothes for the day, we must accept the new nature in Jesus and put on the lifestyle. He gives us righteousness and makes us holy if we will live as he asks. This is an action we must take on. Freely available to us. If we truly want to live a life all in for Christ we need to PUT on this new nature.
So will you THROW off your sinful nature? Will you LET the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes? Will you PUT on your new nature? Will you move past intentions and become a man or woman of action? Are you tired of playing part-time Christian? Are you ready to go All In?
Jesus, I ask that if I am living a life of best intentions that you forgive me, I want to be a person of action. Let me throw aside my sinful nature, let the Holy Spirit renew me and put on your holy nature. Let me be effective in my Christian walk reaching others as you have called me to and mentoring them to be people of action. Forgive me for being a part-time believer, I want to be all in. Amen
50 Days of Pray 