ROOTED - Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might…

 

Reflection: whack-a-mole part 1
I really loved the Ephesians series, concluding a couple weeks ago! In the last sermon of the series Pastor Brad touched on an excellent illustration for the Christian life… the whack-a-mole. I confess that I (like the boy in the illustration) hated this silly game as a child (if you didn’t hear the message go back and listen to it!). One can never get ahead of it. The moles are persistent and gnawing. They keep coming. I recall thinking that the goal of the game was to, essentially, hit the moles harder and break their spirit such that they would be discouraged in showing their pesky faces again. But, that did not work. They persisted until, at last, they still won. 
And, as Pastor Brad so thoughtfully demonstrated, this is the perfect illustration of a life that is lived trying to be successful in the Christian life on one’s own strength. Ephesians reminds us that we rely on Christ’s strength (and dare I say his methods and techniques) to win the fight. The game further illustrates that attacking a sin problem (let us say anger, for sake of argument) without recognizing the core problem is foolish. “God, I am going to try really hard to not get angry today!” Wrong, wrong, wrong! You must recognize that 1) the deeper issue is that you have become the kind of person who becomes angry (your character must change)… and 2) your will power is not the key ingredient. You must do things that change your character such that you don’t (by the power of the Spirit) become angry, naturally. 


Prayer
Lord, help us to fight the spiritual battle effectively, understanding our will’s role in the fight!