Two Dogs in a Fight
By Kurt Bomar
Avery County
There are two dogs in a fight. Which one will win? The answer is “ the one you feed”.
The name of the one dog is “flesh” and the other “spirit”. They both live inside us, they are both very real, and the fighting never stops. Paul gives these dogs the names of Ishmael and Isaac (Gal. 4:24). Remember Ishmael mocked Isaac and had to be driven out of the household of Abraham. The question for us is “how do we drive Ishmael out of our lives (the flesh) to make room for Isaac (the Spirit)?
We follow Paul’s advice and “make no provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14). That’s what Abraham did to his son, Ishmael. He sent him packing. That must have been really hard to do but I believe it was done as a picture of what we must do. We must make the same hard choices. The Spirit of God will not abide in our hearts if we have made provisions for the flesh.
Gal 5:17 says: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
We must control that dog in the fight named flesh, we need to starve him. Day by day do whatever it takes to see he gets no nourishment. You are the gatekeeper to your soul, guard what you let in. Just like the children’s song, “Be careful little eyes what you see…” we need to monitor what we see and hear as well as our other senses. If we make no provision for the flesh that formidable dog we now view as a pit bull will shrink to the size of a yapping Yorkie. (no offense to Yorkie owners!).
Take one step today to start starving the flesh!
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Kurt Bomar is the pastor of Walnut Grove Church located in Avery County. You are welcome to join them on Sundays at 11:00 AM for worship! (When we are allowed to meet in the building again). You can read more from Kurt Bomar HERE.
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