I wonder how many of us have heard the two wolves story? I just ran across it again on social media not long ago. The story is told of a native american grandfather and his grandson. I've heard it with a variety of tribes mentioned. The old man is telling his grandson about the inner battle that we all struggle with. He tells the youngster that there are two wolves inside us-one is evil and the other is good. Grandfather goes on to describe all the negative facets of the" evil "wolf. In short it is an ugly picture of self interest and ungodly activity. This is then followed by the description of the "good" wolf, which is in sharp contrast to the "evil" wolf. The "good" wolf is full of goodness, things like caring for others, joy, faith, respect and such. These attributes closely resemble the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23. The grandson,after listening intently to the old man's wisdom asks the question, "which one wins? " His grandfather gives the familiar answer "whichever one you feed the most."
On the surface the old man's wisdom is spot on and thought to be life changing and a goal for the young man to strive for. If he would just feed the "good wolf" and starve the "evil wolf" all would be well. To be pursuing the "good" and avoiding the "evil" is the message left to us by the story. Unfortunately this story is nothing more that christian Taoism with it's symbol the yin and the yang. You have probably seen it, the circle with half white and half black. While pursing the good "white" the evil "black " is right behind us. My friend the late Dr. M. Wells told me once if you put a trunk on that circle what you have is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree that believers in Jesus should avoid, which our foreparents chose to partake from in the garden. Good and evil are from the same tree with the same root.
The implication in this story is that we have two natures. It may not be stated in so many words, but that is the subtle message. We are encouraged to strive for the good and avoid the evil and at the end of the day which ever one we fed the most wins the day.
The blessing of being Unbound by our oneness with Jesus is knowing we are not dual spirited after conversion. The apostle Paul tells us plainly in I Corinthians 6: 17 "But he who is joined to the Lord becomes ONE spirit with him." This is a simple statement yet with life changing impact! The child of God is free to shift their focus from the tread mill of the wrong tree, which the enemy of our souls tries to keep us on. Jesus is inviting us to step off the tread mill of "good and evil"and into the fullness of the tree of Life. His desire is for us to recognize that we are united as one with the Father and Son. In order to live as Unbound servants, bound only by love and rejoicing in our Oneness with Him.
Look again at John 17 ground zero for our oneness with Jesus. The fact of oneness begins in v.11 b ''that they may be one even as we are one. It continues in v. 21 " that they may all be one,just as you Father,are in me ,and I in you,that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The thought continues on through v.23 where Jesus says," I in them and you in me , that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them even as you loved me".
To be sure there is a battle raging in our souls. It is the battle between the flesh and THE spirit. It is not between the spirit and the other spirit. We know which one to yield to!
Grace & Peace
(Scripture reference: ESV.)
No comments:
Post a Comment