“Even
so consider yourselves to be dead
to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 6:11
Today,
I took my stepson to do something that I haven’t done since I was about his
age: kite flying. How I’ve missed the
sensation of launching a kite into the air, letting out the line so that it
could soar higher and higher, and finding that perfect level in which the kite
just floats on the wind. What a great
feeling it was to be out doing it all again.
It
took a few attempts before getting the first kite up into the air. At first, we did the “run and release”
process. That resulted in either
nose-dives or not gaining enough altitude to stay aloft. After a few adjustments, it was time for
another attempt. This time, I waited for
a good headwind and releasing the kite.
Only walking, keeping a constant “tug-release tug-release” procedure,
the kite began to lift higher and higher.
After getting a good breeze that it was sailing on, I handed the line
over to my stepson. Then, I launched the
second kite into the air. Before long we
were each in total control of our kites, watching them ride the winds. At times, one would want to zig to the left,
or zag to the right. At other times,
they looked as if they were in suspension in the vastness of empty space. The slightest pull could cause them to turn,
or loop. It all measured up to small
moves, letting the wind do most of the work.
Jesus
died to give us the winds to lift us up from the burdens of sin. He wants us to rise above those moments of
temptations, being masters at overcoming anything that Satan throws at us. God is holding the string to keep us flying
steady. We need to have both if we are
to stay far above Satan’s grasp. Without
the winds, we cannot rise above our sin-filled lives. With the control point, we may receive Jesus,
at first. Then we let the turbulence of
life spin us out of control, turned the wrong way, and diving right back into
the midst of sin.
The
apostle Paul writes in Romans, chapter 6 about the necessity for overcoming a
world filled with sin, by accepting the salvation of Jesus’s death. It is something that we need to seek and once
we have it, not let go. Paul sums it up
nicely by saying, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (vs. 14) We can keep sin
at bay by accepting the reason for His resurrection, allowing our hearts to be
conformed to the death that He suffered. (Philippians 3:10)
Personally,
when I allow the words of Paul to take hold of my life, I do feel as light as
one of those kites that we were flying today.
Ready to catch the spiritual wind of Jesus. Ready to soar high above the world of
temptation and the sinful weights that can force me back to the ground. I want to stay up and not come down again.
How
is your “spiritual kite”?
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