Put Off…Put On
By Tracy Smith
“…throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is
corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your
thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God - -
truly righteous and holy.”
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT)
Four years ago, my then 15-year-old
son hurt his foot in gym class and needed an x-ray. While his foot was fine,
the radiologist saw something in his ankle that needed further looking at.
After an x-ray of the ankle, it was determined that he had a cyst in the fibula
bone. Due to the fact that these cysts weaken the bone and my son is an
athlete, it was recommended that we see an orthopedic specialist for a
consultation. The pediatrician explained that the specialist would decide if
the cyst could just be watched or if it needed to be fixed. If it needed to be
fixed, that involved draining out the cystic material and filling the hole with
“bone-like material.” That did not sound pleasant!
Luckily, the orthopedic specialist
said the cyst is one he believes will reabsorb or not get any larger and does
not need surgery - - just another x-ray in six months to check up on it.
All of this got me to thinking about
the above verses. If my son’s cyst would have been one that needed to be fixed,
it would not be enough to just drain the cystic material. That would leave a
void in the bone that would make it even weaker and allow more bad stuff to
fill the void. In order to heal the bone, once the bad was out, it needed to be
replaced with something good.
As Christ-followers, when we stop a
bad habit or yield as God cleans something nasty out of our heart, we must ask
Him to replace it with something good or we will fall back into our bad habit.
We cannot just try to deal with our anger, we must replace it with
self-control. We cannot just decide to stop being ungrateful, we need to
replace it with gratefulness.
Just like a cyst that needs to be
fixed, good must replace the bad in order for healing to occur.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
I Googled
“Put off, Put on” and found this wonderful list of traits/habits to put off,
put on with corresponding Scripture. Click on the link to see the list and Scripture. Find
what you need to work on hand-in-hand with the Holy Spirit and look up the
Scripture.
FURTHER
READING:
Along with being
a wife and mother to two teenage sons, Tracy is a ministry assistant at Oakwood
and works with a great group of High School girls.
