Make No Provision for the Flesh, Even Online

On the ways we are tempted to provide for sin

Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash

I am often drawn into conviction by Paul’s words in Romans 13:13-14:

¹³ Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Rather than walk in the night, hiding sins in darkness, we are called to walk “properly in the daytime.” And just so that we know that this doesn’t only refer to sexual sins, Paul mentions “quarreling and jealousy” as well (more on that later). Instead, we are to “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” in other words accept the reality of our union with Christ and act like it. And then he gives this warning.

The warning here is not just against a particular act, but in giving forethought to putting yourself into a position where you will sin, placing yourself into a position of vulnerability. And that’s what always convicts me. Because it’s relatively easy for me to avoid particular sinful acts, but the forethought to make myself vulnerable to them is harder, especially on the internet which offers those sins to me constantly.

And I suspect it’s that way with all of us, if we are honest with ourselves. It is easy to make provision for our flesh, to seek out ways to gratify the desires of our flesh even if we pull back at the last moment. It’s easy to do this subconsciously, or to justify it to ourselves right up to the moment when we’re staring sin in the face.