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Make No Provision for the Flesh
Have you ever done something wrong, and thought to yourself afterward, “How did that even happen? I never thought I’d do something like that!” Often we feel blindsided by sin and feel that our actions came out of nowhere.
2 Chronicles 12:14 says of the unrighteous King Rehoboam, “He did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD”.
Seeking God is something we have to make preparation for in our hearts. Conversely, sinning is something we have to make sure we don’t prepare for.
In Romans 13, Paul exhorts the Christians to put off sin, and instead put on Christ:
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
In order to put on Christ, it is necessary that we make no provision for the flesh. The idea of provision is to prepare for something ahead of time. If I were going on a three-day hike, I would make provision by getting my supplies together and making sure I had enough food for the trip.
When I was in college, I would usually start studying or working on projects late at night. I would put my sweatpants on, get comfortable in bed under the covers, and then start studying. Most of the time I would fall asleep rather than study. Why was that? I wanted to get my homework done, so why did I end up sleeping instead? It was because I had prepared myself for sleep, not for studying.
In the same way, we often want to put on Christ, but prepare ourselves for sin. For example, maybe you’ve been battling with jealousy and discontentment, but you’re still spending a lot of time on social media, comparing yourself to others. Maybe your struggle is lust, but you still watch movies and listen to music with sexual content. Or maybe you can’t seem to stop gossiping, but you’re still hanging out with those friends that always tear others down.
We need to learn to be aware of how things affect us so we can stop preparing ourselves for the works of darkness. What are you doing that’s providing for the flesh? Let those things go, and pursue the things that would prepare you to seek the Lord.
