Colossians 2:11-12 "Surgery Complete"

Read Colossians 2:11-12.

"In him you were also circumcised...." NIV

"Circumcision" It's interesting how one word can bring both horror and complete joy. It just all depends on whose power is at work. I was just reading the other day in an autobiography about female circumcision in Somalia. Horrific mutilation and pain. God definitely has nothing to do with that practice. It's pure evil.

But Christ offers the circumcision of our sinful nature. Now there is where the joy comes in. I always imagine that I had a huge black spot on my heart that desires to sin. Christ takes a very precise laser knife and cuts out the spot freeing me forever of the sinful nature that plagues me.

It's interesting to look at sin from a Christian's perspective. I no longer have a desire to sin. But I am still tempted by sin. And I still sometimes fall and succumb to it. (Thank the Lord that forgiveness and grace isn't all used up with our initial repentance.) But the desire to go after sin is gone.

Now, I'm not battling the curse that I was born with as much as the enemy's lurings to get me to turn. But because I am filled with a power that is so much greater than he is, I can resist those temptations. I am not weak in my sin. I am strong in the power of Jesus Christ. I have the shield of faith protecting me from the fiery darts. I am a new creation. The old is dead having been cut out of my living tissue. It no longer has anything to sustain it. But I'm not maimed from the surgery. I am made whole through my Lord and can face any temptation thrown at me. I can live in joy rather than fear. I can live in victory rather than defeat. My God is in control, not the remnants of an ancient curse placed upon me. My choice has been made and my future made sure. I am alive in Christ and His power.

Further Thoughts:

1. Do you still live in the defeat of the sinful nature? Why? If you've received Christ, it was taken away. You can face the enemy now because the power of Christ in the fullness of the Deity lives within you. The curse is gone.
2. Face temptations today with power and joy. You are an overcomer through Him.
3. Research the "shield of faith."