Things of the Spirit

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Minding things of the Spirit.

Do you mind things of the Spirit? Seriously. Think about it for a few moments. How much minding of the Spirit do you do? Tending to the flesh is rather easy isn't it? Think about it. It's easy to grab up a bite to eat, pop it in our mouths, chew it, swallow it and fulfill the need of hunger our flesh feels. When you're thirsty it's simple to get a glass of water and take care of that thirst, for the most part- in most parts of the world anyway. Do you think it's easier for someone who is finding it hard to find food and drink to tend to their spirit? It's something to think about.

Another thing to think about, do we have spiritual pangs to tell us we're in need of spiritual tending? Have we so warped ourselves that we can't recognize our spiritual need- passing it off as something else entirely.

We have so many mental and emotional illnesses we can scarcely count them. People today take so many pills geared to just help them get through the day it's unbelievable. Yet we refuse to recognize anything as a spiritual illness. The spiritual is a choice people say. We don't have to be spiritual. We can choose to not believe in the spiritual side of things. And people fully believe that in making that choice their spiritual side simply no longer exists. If they don't believe it, then it isn't there, it isn't a part of them. They don't need that bit- if it's even real- discard it like a diseased appendix, or a rotten tooth, toss it aside as the deadened flesh of the remainder of an umbilical cord that was once attached to everyone of us and needed to dry up and fall away. Why such a graphic example? Because how many of us think about that bit of our flesh that was knotted off and allowed to perish away as useless? Sure we might consider our belly button, our navels on occasion perhaps to decorate them with jewelry or tug a piece of fuzz out of but how often do we think about the tiny bit of flesh that had to die off to form it? Our spiritual side exists even if we don't admit to it. Our spiritual side can starve.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Minding things of the spirit. We can't mind things of the spirit unless we recognize the spirit has needs. We know what minding the flesh is- doing anything and everything to satisfy our desires and boy does the flesh have a lot of desires. Some of those desires we want to be satisfied once a day, others a few times a day, some once a week, or once a month it varies according to our individual desires and fleshy appetites and I'm not just talking sex here, there are many 'things of the flesh'. Given the choice of eating to satisfy a flesh hunger, or studying God's word to satisfy a spiritual hunger it's easy to believe the majority would choose to eat to satisfy a flesh hunger in part because they recognize the physical pangs of hunger much more readily than they do their spiritual hunger. As long as Satan has people disbelieving in their Spiritual need it's easy for Him to seduce them to His side without their even knowing.

How many Christmas stories do we see on television this time of year that play up the believing or disbelieving in Santa Claus? How many people secretly wish He REALLY did exist? Many of those shows satisfy that delusion just to play up that part inside of us, but we know the reality is that He doesn't exist. Those shows a lot of times give the impression if you only BELIEVE then it will be real and it's as simple as disbelieving to do away with Santa. Our spiritual lives demand belief in God who is Spirit.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We have to believe.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

And this is where a lot of people shrug spiritual things off as if they aren't important, as if they don't even exist. They choose not to believe. Anything that demands faith- believing without seeing is easy to simply not believe. It's much easier to believe something doesn't exist when it's unseen than to believe it does exist.

Our spirit that needs feeding goes on to starve and our lives become more and more selfish, more self-centered, more filled with whatever it is that will keep us from recognizing the spiritual side. It's not so far fetched to say that everyone has their own person demons that work in very personalized ways to keep each of us from tending to things spiritual.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Help us Lord to be after the Spirit and not after the flesh. Help us to recognize that the Spirit is the part of us that connects with God- who is a Spirit. Help us to understand that we need to truly mind the things of the Spirit. As we live day to day tending to our flesh, help us to recognize that we need to tend our Spirit, feed our Spirit from Your word, in prayer, in study, in knowing that in all things God should be first and foremost.

By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we live in Him now and forever.

Amen.