By Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Paul acknowledges here and elsewhere that our flesh has desires that are bad (Galatians 5:16, 1 Peter 2:11). There is a sense in which regeneration changes our cravings so that we will begin desiring what is good, but this is proportional and never complete this side of eternity. While we remain caged in our sinful bodies, we will unfortunately still desire things that are bad. And these bad desires crave to be satisfied. Like a thirst that needs quenching, our sinful desires long to taste the sweetness of sin.
We are reminded to make no provision for the flesh. This word provision, is a word that speaks of forethought. The specific action Paul is seeking to eliminate from our lives is the intentional planning of sin. Like the married man who plans to wander into the break room at the exact time the cute receptionist is refilling her coffee cup. Or the deliberate opening up of a website just to get a glimpse of some raunchy photograph. We are to make no forethought to plan out our sin.
Instead, we are to put on the LORD Jesus. Let’s look up some Bible verses and see what this looks like.
- Galatians 3:27
- Job 29:14
- Psalm 132:9
- Luke 24:49
- Ephesians 4:24
- Colossians 3:10
(questions for the kids)
- What is one specific way that you can plan to put on the LORD Jesus instead of planning to gratify your flesh?
Leading Family Devotions 