Bible Reading: Romans 6:1-11
Key Verse: Verse 11 – “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Key Words: alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord
When we come to Christ, and accept Him as Savior, we come out of a self-willed world where we have been looking out for “Number One.” Egotism, self-centeredness, and a person’s pride are things that typify our world. While climbing the ladder of success, we lick the shoes of those on the rung above us while stomping the head of those below us. Worldly success at any price and at any expense is our motto. To climb higher on the ladder of success is no sin in the eyes of the world. That’s the world’s way.
Living in that environment and being converted from that culture, we come to Christ, unfortunately, bringing that attitude. It clashes with the attitude of being a servant. A celebrity mentality and a servant temperament cannot coexist together. Upon coming to Christ we stop looking at ourselves and start focusing on Christ. For some, this is instantaneous, for others, it’s a struggle; and for pretenders, it never works for long.
Jack Parr once said, “Looking back, my life seems like one long obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.” When it comes to servanthood there is no greater hindrance than self.
There was once a cartoon in New Yorker magazine with the caption “Nanook Goes South.” It was one of those multi-frame cartoons. In the first, Nanook was pictured in his native cold north country wearing a heavy parka. A subsequent frame showed him in the sunny warm south wearing that same warm parka. The caption notes he is “boiling in his parka, but old habits die hard.” A bit of Nanook lives in all of us. Only Christ can enable us to overcome this “Nanook complex.”
Live for God, not for self. Make this your daily practice, and eventually it will become a way of life.
✞ Only Christ can overcome the Nanook Complex.
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