I Must Not Become a Slave to Anything
By Pastor Tony O. Aufa
A young man, 18 years old, was asked by the members of his church to go to Bible College to learn more about God’s Word. But he thought, “I’m a man too, and I have things I want to do. I’m still young, so let me live my life and have some fun first.” After this, he still went to church, but only once in a while. At the same time, he discovered the joy of sex and started sleeping with as many girls as he could. It wasn’t long before he contracted AIDs and died.
Maybe you know a story like this too?
We all like to follow our own desires, don’t we? When other people tell us to stop doing something and start doing what they want us to do, we say, “Leave me alone. Let me do what I want to do.” Sound familiar? But we need to remember that it is God who made us, and Christ Jesus who rescued us with His blood to make us His own.
Often our desires follow Satan’s desires! Think of Adam and Eve. They followed their own desires and brought disaster upon themselves. Likewise, if we follow our own desires we too will bring disaster upon ourselves.
HIV/AIDs, gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted infections come from us following our desires for sex. Mouth cancer, TB, and rotten teeth come from our desire to chew buai, kambang, and daka. Too much sugar gives us diabetes. Lung cancer comes from smoking. There are too many examples! So many sicknesses afflict us because we don’t do what God wants us to do.
WE MUST NOT BECOME A SLAVE TO ANYTHING
God wants us to have dominion over everything He made (Genesis 1:26-28). That means He doesn’t want those things to have dominion over us. Sex and lust can’t rule us. To put it another way we might say that those things can’t motivate us. Christ motivates us to rule over our bodies. He strengthens us to overcome our old self and have self-control.
Therefore Paul says “I must not become a slave to anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Often our desires follow Satan’s desires! Think of Adam and Eve. They followed their own desires and brought disaster upon themselves. Likewise, if we follow our own desires we too will bring disaster upon ourselves.
We always make excuses to follow our sinful desires. Just like the Corinthians we say, “I am allowed to do anything.” I can drink, I can chew, I do whatever. It’s my body, my money; if I want something, I’ll get it!
We say, “It’s just a plant! How can you tell me I can’t chew it?” Good question. But don’t you think it’s better if we ask: “How is this thing helping me?” Think about it. You are wasting your money on it every day and yet you don’t have enough money for food, you go hungry, and then you borrow to get more money to buy more buai. Examine your own actions and you’ll see that you are killing yourself!
Some of us say, “These are problems of this world, it’s not a big deal.” Listen! We are creating the problems, not the world. The Lord has given us eyes and brains to examine our lives and how we live. Are we going to walk around like blind men? Like crazy people?
Paul told the Corinthians that the sexually immoral, idolaters, greedy, and drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Some of the believers had lived that kind of lifestyle before. But now God has washed them in the blood of Christ and they belong to Him (v.11). Therefore, they must not do these things anymore.
Christ has not redeemed our body to make it a temple for beer or adultery. Absolutely not! It is the temple of the Holy Spirit (v.19)! We need to let the Holy Spirit control our desires.
Listen! Christ Jesus came to this earth and followed the desires of God the Father all the way to His own death. Then He rose from the grave in power. Therefore, He can change you, just as He has changed me! Come to Jesus! He will give you new desires and you will follow His will so that He becomes your master forever. We must not become the slave to anything except Jesus Christ.