I had the opportunity to have two of my favorite kids visit my house on Saturday night. I enjoy seeing these little ones out of the normal Church routine. Todd had to take our oldest son to a basketball game during dinner so our youngest and I ate with our two small guests. I realize that my table rules are different than some but to this four year old the excitement of being a guest overruled the obligation of manners.
Explaining to him that when he is at Miss Amy's house he must abide by Miss Amy's rules, was not good enough for him, his quick rebuttal indicated that he had his own rules. In my head all I could hear was "You're not the boss of me". I have to chuckle now when thinking back on the innocence of his sweet little face even as he defied my authority at the dinner table. Let me be clear, this little boy is not a bad kid, on the contrary, he is one of the best behaved kids I know. His parents work hard to teach him manners, God’s principles and the difference between right and wrong. It makes the point of this message all the more meaningful because even the best of person, the most innocent of child, still has a sin nature.
We are not born Christians, we are born sinners. We cannot enter into God's Kingdom with the sin of man on us. Even this little guy has a sin nature; he is bent toward being self willed. He wants his own way. We are all this way. The Word says we have ALL sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Not one of us, no matter how young, is without sin. We ALL need a Savior. We all need to be born again. Born out of the sinful flesh and into the newness of life with Christ; and because we all are bent toward that self will we must continue to renew our minds through the Word of God. We can't expect to "poof" change in an instant when we get Born Again and be free from the tendencies of selfishness. After all, that is what sin is, the selfish desire to do just what we want to do. We must renew our mind through the reading of The Word in order for our selfish thinking to be changed to selfless thinking and a heart after God. We can have victory over the sins that have us ensnared.
Ephesians 4:22-24 (Amplified Bible)
22 Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],
24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.
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