Sin Nature

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime,
not in orgies or drunkeness,
not in sexual immorality and debauchery,
not in dissension and jealousy.
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,
and do not think about how to gratify the desires
of the sinful nature.

I read this passage this morning from Romans 13:8-14. I love the visual creativity that Paul uses in his writing. Wake up from your slumber.. the day is near. I like writing it out this way- because it seems more poetic than anything. Our minds spin when we think of an armor of light. How glorious we appear in the eyes of God. How glorious we are when we wake from the worldliness that pulls us into our sinful nature, and rise above it.

Lately, more so this week, I have been struggling a bit with my "sin nature"... Everyone has something that is their downfall.. that seems to always come back every blue moon (or more for others) when they aren't being guarded and aren't reading and listening to the Word. You feel a little helpless when it sneaks up on you.. and yes.. it sneaks. Casting Crowns wrote "slow fade" because our faith and ethics and all that is good fades.. it doesn't normally just click in our heads.. "oh, today I would like to not be so much a Christian anymore." Satan knows how to slowly drag us away from all that is hopeful and good.. and remind us what our sinful desires are... the things that we relied on, before God showed us truth.

I am not fearful that I will be dragged from my faith at all.. I have so much trust in my God that i know that will never happen. But I do notice when I wander from the narrow path to the wide road that is so much easier to travel- but is deadly in the end.
And it is even silly to blame this all on satan. Sure, he can be convincing sometimes.. but he has no power over me anymore. It is my own laziness that keeps me from reading my Father's Bible. I find whenever I constantly read and analyze His love for me, I fall even deeper in love with Him. For this, I will never understand the Agape love He has for me...
but I will forever live my life loving, all the same.
For we never know.. just how near that hour is..