2   S t r u g g l e s
...   . .     .

The First: The Sin that Still Dwells within Me

A few years ago, my email address was "LikeRilian", & at the bottom of every email, I included this little tag [from C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair]:

   "The instant the prisoner was free, he crossed the room in a single bound, seized his own sword (which had been taken from him & laid on the table), & drew it.
    'You first!' he cried & fell upon the silver chair.
    That must have been a good sword.  The silver gave way before its edge like string, & in a moment a few twisted fragments, shining on the floor, were all that was left . . .
    The Witch-queen shut & locked the door.  'How now, my lord Prince,' she said. '. . .Why stand you here unbound?  Who are these aliens?  & is it they who have destroyed the chair which was your only safety?'
    Prince Rilian shivered as she spoke to him.  & no wonder: it is not easy to throw off in half an hour an enchantment which has made one a slave for ten years."

The email address was "Like Rilian", because I identified with Prince Rilian's predicament.  Here he was, unbound & free, yet still struggling to let go of the residue & scars of his former slavery.

God, who does not & cannot lie, says that "sin will have no dominion over [me], since [I] am not under law but under grace" (Rom 6:14), but I still struggled/struggle to do away with my old master, Sin.

In response, He says, "Walk by the Spirit & you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal 5:16).  & He who justified me further says that "those whom He justified He also glorified [made glorious & honored, perfectly & finally conformed into the image of Christ]" (Rom 8:30, explanation added).

But am I glorified right now?  Definitely not.  I still reek more of Self than of Christ.

Then why is "glorified" in the past tense?  Because that's how sure His promise is.  His promise-keeping is so sure & definite that even though it's still a future event for me, it's as good as done.

How can that be?  Because He is God, because He is sovereign, & because He is "the Author and the Perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12:2).  He who called me made provisions for my calling (2 Pet 1:3).

Amazing grace.  Yea.

:]

...   . .     .

The Second: Remaining Vigilant Day by Day

More from C.S. Lewis's allegory (aww, I like Puddleglum :] ):

    "Now the Witch said nothing at all, but moved gently across the room, always keeping her face & eyes very steadily toward the Prince . . .
    [She] took out first a handful of a green powder.  This she threw on the fire.  It did not blaze much, but a very sweet & drowsy smell came from it.  & all through the conversation which followed, that smell grew stronger, & filled the room, & made it harder to think.
    Secondly, she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin.  She began to play it with her fingers - a steady, monotonous thrumming that you didn't notice after a few minutes.  But the less you noticed it, the more it got into your brain & your blood.  This also made it hard to think . . .
    [Jill, sent by Aslan to rescue Prince Rilian] was very angry because she could feel enchantment getting hold of her every moment . . . [Eventually], Jill couldn't remember the names of the things in our world.  & this time it didn't come into her head that she was being enchanted, for now the magic was in its full strength; & of course, the more enchanted you get, the more you feel you are not enchanted at all.  She found herself saying (& at the moment it was a relief to say): 'No.  I suppose that other world must be all a dream.'
    Puddleglum was still fighting hard . . . 'You can play that fiddle till your fingers drop off, & still you won't make me forget Narnia . . .'  Puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect . . .
    Puddleglum, desperately gathering all his strength, walked over to the fire.  Then he did a very brave thing . . . he knew it would hurt him badly enough; & so it did.  With his bare foot he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth . . ."

This is a children's story, but it captures a certain spiritual reality.  When I'm in a passive default-living mode, I'm quickly lulled to sleep by the comforts, pursuits, pleasures, & lies of the world.  The Enemy is never passive.  The Enemy is ever-prowling, ever-calculating, ever-scheming, & ever-awake.  It is a pity that he is often more passionate & single-eyed in his evil aim than I am in my God-ordained one.  Who will be a Puddleglum, not in a fictional setting but here & now?

I forget that God says that this is a time of spiritual warfare, not peace.  This is not the same "religious war" that the media portrays.  God says that "we do not wrestle against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12).

He says to "keep alert with all perseverance" (Eph 6:18) & to "not sleep, as others do" but "keep awake & be sober" (I Thess 5:6).

Unless I am, day by day & moment by moment, making a conscious, God-dependent effort to remind myself of & train myself in the truths of His Word & the truth of what He says is the current condition of the world and men's hearts, then I will forget & fall in step with the "steady, monotonous thrumming" of the world.  I will then be doing the Enemy's will rather than the King's will.  Or perhaps I will do nothing at all... but that is just as well with the Enemy.  Better to put the King's soldiers into a comfortable slumber than to rouse & fight them.

"Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (I Pet 5:8)  My natural tendency is to let my mind become slothful & my soul, lethargic.  He warns against this & makes provisions for my obedience in being faithful.

STAY AWAKE!  He, in effect, says.  DON'T BE DECEIVED.  THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR SLEEPING BUT FOR KEEPING WATCH.

Let's help each other stay sober-minded, vigilant, awake.  Sleeping soldiers will not be able to fight the good fight.  Sleeping athletes will not be able to run so as to win the prize.