Devotion #5 – Colossians 3:5

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

This verse repeats and goes into a little more detail about the meaning of Colossians 3:3a “You have died.” It is up to us to willingly and willfully place ourselves as a living sacrifice on the altar. As Romans 12:1 reminds us, we are supposed to “present [ ]our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is [ ] our spiritual service of worship.”

We are to die to the world, to sin and to selfishness. 

The Bible tells us that we are slaves to whatever has mastered us and to whatever master we obey. We cannot allow temptations to call the shots in our lives. We must not allow our appetites to control us. 

Someone once asked me if I would like to give control of my life to someone who had the same experience, wisdom and resources that I have. My answer of course was “no!” Their follow-up question was simply then: “Why would you want to have you yourself in charge of your life?!”

When we give control of our lives to the Lord, we are entrusting our lives into the protection and care of one who is infinitely wiser, more experienced and more amply resourced than we are. 

A lie the devil loves to tell people is that if they give up their lives to the Lord, the result will be a boring life with God making demand after demand and making us uncomfortable and even miserable. But the reality is that when we count ourselves as dead to the temporal things, the earthly things, the wicked things of this world, and instead surrender ourselves fully to God, He will bless us, and will be able to transform and sanctify us. 

But it takes us saying that we are dead to “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed.” We have to allow those things no control in our lives. Sadly, when we do live for those things we are making for ourselves idols and not in fact serving the one true God who is able to make us wise for salvation, able to make us holy and ultimately able to make us happy. 

Don’t serve the idols of appetite and worldly hedonism. Instead “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24) and count yourself dead to those things which will only bring oppression and destruction. Instead place yourself on the altar, fully surrendering to God’s will and God’s way and let Him work in and through you in marvelous and miraculous ways!

Are you dead to immortality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed?

Are you making hedonism and your appetite into idols that you serve instead of God? 

Are you willing to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires?