Purify Your Mind Series (Part 3) by Joe KirbySample

Put Your Sins in a Mortuary

"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5)

Come with me and sit at the bedside of a dying man. Tell him who won last night’s ball game. Tell him about the latest political crisis. Tell him that your favorite celebrity couple just got divorced. Tell him any new piece of worldly news or gossip, and see how much interest he shows. He doesn’t care—he’s a dying man on the brink of eternity, where his next life, in either heaven or hell, is about to begin.

In comparison, Paul commands the church of Colossae to put to death evil desire within the flesh. The Christian has a new life; the way of the old life should not fascinate us anymore, because we are dead to this world. Remember the old war movie scene where the commanding officer says, “Take no prisoners”? Paul, as a commanding officer, says the same thing to the flock of Christ. Don’t think you can successfully harbor a dangerous enemy under your roof. He will one day stab you in the back when you least expect it. Sin is not our friend, and just like killing anything is not pleasant (in fact, it’s extremely hard), we must show no mercy and put to death those wicked sins of the flesh.