Walk This Way

    There is a saying, a truth have you, that our ideas have consequences. Now some may disagree with that statement (who, I don't know) but they would be wrong. That may sounds like an intolerant idea, me pronouncing myself to be right, but it's not, like the statement, it is truth. Our thoughts, our ideas have consequences. Some of the greatest examples of this lay in the theory of evolution and the idea of Nazism. Both have changed our society forever, leaving millions dead, millions lead astray by a simple idea.

    It was a single idea that led to Eve grabbing that fruit off the tree and sinking her teeth into it, changing the universe forever. Every action begins with a thought, an idea. People do not commit adultery without thinking about it first (this is covered in my blog "Do What You Know To Do"). Every action is preceded by a thought. That is why jails are full of repeat offenders, why schools have repetitive trouble makers, and why you cannot stop a situation involving a person when deal solely with the action. You have to deal with the thought-life of a person. You have to deal with the root of the situation-the person's heart and though-life. The apostle Paul had some words to say about this issue.

    In Romans 8 we can learn about two different laws that govern the world-the law of sin and death and the law of the spirit of life. They both have to do with the condition of the heart and thought-life. In Romans 8:1-2, Paul writes, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." As I said above, every action begins with a thought. Walking according to the flesh or according to the Spirit is a conscious decision each and every one of us makes, Accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, embracing Him and walking in God's will for our lives, what He has intended for us, is a conscious decision. It's a choice in our thought-life that leads to a choice in our actions.

    Romans 8:5-7 says, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." In these two verse the apostle Paul reveals so much, in just two verses! There are two ways of thinking-thoughts of the flesh and thoughts of the Spirit (carnality is another way of saying fleshly or immature in the Spirit). Paul is saying that thought who live according to the flesh (without God) thinking on things not related to God (concerns of things of this world and not of God and eternity). Even one who would say they are "spiritual" or "religious" would still be considered walking according to the flesh or carnal because they are concerned with those things and not God. Spirituality and religiosity is a nice veil for those who want a spiritual experience without everything that comes with it-humbling their life and way of doing things before God's way of doing things, turning over their beliefs and thoughts in favor of God's. There are Christians that still have problems with this as well, the Bible has some things to say about them as well. (But for brevity I'll leave that for you to look into)

    Paul also states that to be carnally minded, to have your thoughts on things that are not of God, leads to death, and to have your thoughts set on God, leads to life. Why is that, because your thoughts will lead to your action. In the book of James it says that the Christian is not saved by works or by doing anything on his/her own, yet his/her faith produces action. That faith is the faith in Jesus Christ. And that faith began as a thought. Thus, your thoughts will produces actions-if they are on the things of God, they will produce actions that are Godly. If they are not on God, then they will produce ungodly actions. Now if these actions continue in a carnal way, there will come a time when a person's heart stops beating, they stop breathing, and they die. After which they will find themselves in front of God to be judged and then spend the rest of eternity separated from God in Hell. The person how however who has walked according to the spirit will stop breathing and find himself in Heaven because He has believed and accepted God's payment of Jesus Christ for humanity's sin.

    But even before that time comes, there is this life, which one can spend living under God's law of Spirit of Life or under the Law of Sin and Death, subjected to the effects of sin in this world-lack, sickness, etc. And all of this has to do with how we think. This is why the Word of God has so much to say on our thought life and spending time putting our thoughts on the Word of God, because not only will it produce faith in our life, but it will cause our actions to align with the Word of God, and it will cause us to walk according tot eh Spirit and not the flesh, to enjoy life, and suffer death.