Philippians 3-4

(August 5, 2015)

                The natural man in each of us wants all the wrong things.  The language of Paul is perfect here – in so many ways, our god is in our belly.  We seek after the things our physical bodies want, instead of the things our spirits were sent to find.  Should we fail to achieve these temporal goals, we become bitter (towards God, no less!) for not giving us what we want.  Should, instead, we achieve our temporal goals then our glory becomes our shame and we are destroyed by the very thing that we find ourselves seeking.

                It can be difficult to silence the god in our bellies, but ultimately it is essential to each of us.  The only way to silence this fickle god is not to muzzle it but rather to focus our attention on the true God and allow this false idol to fade away from neglect.