Lately God has been making me more and more aware of how easily I tend to fall into a routine in my life where I spend the vast majority of my day feeding my fleshly appetites and little to no time strengthening my spiritual life.
We live in a culture that is saturated with easily accessible fuel for everything our flesh desires. In my life I have had times where I focused on feeding my lust, and times when I committed every spare moment to some addictive video game, or immersed myself in reading novels non stop. I have had times where I did nothing but watch movies, or TV to pass the hours when I wasn’t working or sleeping. I’ve gone on binges where I eat lots of sweets & unhealthy food, and I have done the opposite where I spend 2 or 3 hours every day at the gym and eat rabbit food, consumed with loosing the weight I gained from my junk food binge.
Occasionally I have felt guilty, or convicted about how much time I spend on one thing, then I’ll cut that thing entirely out of my life. However, sometimes when I start to get control over one form of over indulging my flesh, instead of using that extra time and energy to develop my relationship with Jesus, I just end up replacing it with some other fleshly pursuit. I’ll feel better about not playing any video games for months when all it really means is that I’m watching more TV, or reading more books, or eating more junk food, or doing more exercise.
I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with most of the ways that I usually choose to entertain myself. The problem stems from my tendency to focus on these temporal things to the detriment of my relationship with God and my family. The problem is when I set my mind on earthly things, and not on what is beneficial in eternity. The problem is when I care more about my appetites than my God.
I am sure that just about any Christian can relate to this to some degree. You may not be as prone to binges of addictive behavior as I am, but I think anyone who has been a Christian for any significant length of time has gone through periods of their life where they are too focused on who they are, what they are doing, what they want, and what makes them happy, to the point where they neglect their personal relationship with Jesus.
17Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.
18For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,
19whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Philippians 3:17-21
It is incredibly crippling spiritually, when your thoughts are consumed with the temporal things of this world. There are many people who go to church and have a form of religious Christianity, yet they never really spend time with God personally, or enter a relationship with Jesus. Their life is entirely consumed with their own appetites, and their minds are entirely focused on this world.
Spiritual growth and maturity comes when you have humble self awareness and a deep need for Jesus. We are never going to attain perfection in these bodies. We look forward with hope to the day when we are transformed into our eternal bodies.