Daily Devotional April 25 - Put off the old man

"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man and his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him." Colossians 3:8-10

When you are changed by conversion from darkness to light, from lost to found, from unrepentant to saved, God did a work inside of you. That work included giving you the power to overcome in all situations where you did not have power to overcome before. God changed the way you think, the way you look at things. The Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart and mind and is active in giving you the inclinations you need to make the right decisions.

Over time you will still have the opportunity to make decisions that are not godly, nor do they represent the mind that is in you. But you can, with enough influence from others start to act like the old man again, the person you were before you became born again. In your mind you rationalize that since you are human you will have these tendencies and because of your inherent weakness you will have to succumb to some of them. Or in some cases you simply do not share with God the same ideals. In essence you have created a religion of your own.

Those who have created a religion of their own is the largest denomination on earth. It is made up of those who like to be a part of something and they have agreed to some of the tenets of faith, but rather than being faithful to the truth, they have found many ways to compromise their position and live according to their own whims and wishes. They do not agree with the Word of God nor do they live in its precepts. And this doesn't refer just to Christians. It could refer to any religion where the followers are off on their own tangent.

It was never meant to be like this. The born again believer has within themselves the power to overcome and live a life in agreement with God's will and full of peace and joy, adventure and excitement. When we go off on our own tangent we lose a great deal. It does matter what you think and how you live out your life. Your lifestyle reveals whether you are in love with God or satisfied with your own man-made religion. I'm not saying this to be harsh or to hurt your feelings. But I have learned it is hard to break away from the pleasure that disobedience provides. Is it true that you would really rather do it all your own way rather than to follow the guidelines of the God who made you? Down deep do you really think it will turn out right if you go about wrong?

The Bible says to put off the old man, not to nurture it and feed it. If you have created your own religion, who do you pray to when you need assistance?