Control!

Control!

‭Romans 8:6 AMP‬

[6] Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever];

‭Romans 8:6 GNBDK‬

[6] To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.

One definition of 'control' that stands out is 'the power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events'.  Control is critical to determining resources, growth and impact, and ultimately eternity. This is an issue that is central to what both God and the devil want to do with the life of man. Whatever it is you are able to control is under your direct influence, and you can direct behaviour anyhow you want. Power is mentioned in that definition, which means that the one exercising control really has the means, opportunity and ability to direct another person to act in a certain way, sometimes against the person's freewill. This is what makes this verse quite instructive for us, as we seek to know, pursue and fulfil the purpose of God for our lives. 

You find two control centres in the verse above: the human nature and the Spirit. Both are powerful, because they can determine a man's eternal destination. Even before the eternal is sorted, they also have earthly implications. The human nature is our default setting, where all who are born into the world are subject to, as a result of man's first sin in the Garden of Eden.  No one had power over the nature s/he is born into, but you sure have power over the nature you remain in when you know the difference between the two. The control referred to in the verse above does not take away your power to choose; whatever your choice is has a determined earthly reality as well as an eternal end. God will not go against the exercise of my freewill, or force Himself on me. 

God wants me to choose to surrender to His control. Of course, every control centre will only offer you what it has. The life of the sinful nature cannot give or guarantee you the life which the Spirit offers, neither can control by the Spirit lead to death away from God. No one csn give what he does not have. I also note that the words 'both now and forever' are used for both control centres, and that should make us pause and reflect. Do my current life choices and actions reflect the control by the Spirit that leads to life, or the control of the human nature that leads to death? Who you spend time with will of course impact the course of your life, as well as its eternal destination. If the desired goal is eternal life with God, the way is through submission to the Spirit of God. He can lead through the paths of life and peace, until I get to reign with Christ in eternity. God's time of favour is here.