Contemplative Bible Reading

Romans 8:8-9 (New Living Translation)

8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

A simple statement in verse 8: the sinful nature can N E V E R please God. Let’s repeat that:

N E V E R

Next question? Oh, how can we please God? Allow the Spirit of God to live in us. Note the first word: A L L O W. That is not E A R N or B U Y or something that requires tremendous effort on our part. It is like that Old Testament fella’ who humbled himself and washed in a filthy river. He A L L O W ‘ed himself to be healed.

Funny how we don’t like to accept something that allows us to be with God. We want to show ourselves worthy. Funny how verse 8 tells us that the difficult is actually impossible.