Don't make any provision for the lusts of the flesh

Today we are going to talk about not setting ourselves up for sin. Lets get right to our Bible verse which is Romans 13:14.

 ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Our sinful nature is like a dying campfire. Add a little wood and fan the embers and our fleshly desires can easily be ignited. With this in mind we should ask ourselves this question. Are we allowing anything in our lives that can set us up for sin? If we find something with that potential then we need to deal radically with it. We need to do whatever we can to remove it.

Not allowing provision for the flesh can apply to various sins. But for this devotion lets talk about sexual sin. Lets say a man is having trouble with viewing pornography online. As long as he has access to his internet service he is making a provision for the flesh. He needs to deal radically with his sin and do one of two things. Either cancel his internet service or have a household member password protect the internet so he is unable to access it.

Lets consider an example of a couple that is engaged to get married next summer. Here are some ways they could avoid making a provision for sexual sin. They could avoid alone time by planning group activities. They could avoid drinking alcohol which could lower their resistance to sin. They could make a plan to never stay overnight at each others house even if their intention is to stay in separate rooms. These are a couple of examples of how they could avoid making a provision for the flesh.

Remember this verse applies to various lusts of the flesh and not just sexual sin. So take a moment and ask God to reveal to you if you are making a provision for the flesh. If He reveals something to you then deal radically with it and eliminate it.

God bless

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)