Yo, bro! The slow-go of no mo' uh-oh (also: show and sow mo' glow) is fo' sho' a yo-yo!

Wow… if you’re actually choosing to read this post after having endured the title, I applaud you for your tenacity…

Since I rarely have an original thought (nothing new under the sun, eh?), today’s post is taken from an analogy that my pastor used in Sunday school this morning (this one’s for you, Crystal).

Sanctification can be tricky for us to understand sometimes. Period.

I once had a conversation about sanctification with my pastor, and I told him that I have sometimes asked myself if God has actually done any work at all in my life, because the same sins and desires that haunted me before still haunt me now. I knew that He has, obviously, but sometimes I feel very discouraged in seeing these old demons raise their ugly heads again and again and again.

Pastor Mike said something in response which I think will always stick with me. We recognize that there is a battle constantly raging within us, one of flesh and Spirit. Far too often, however, we view the process of sanctification as a reducing of the flesh. However, this will always yield a downcast heart when we find that the flesh is still very much alive in us. If we ever assume that an old temptation is no longer present, if we take our foot off of the snake’s neck (Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20) – even if God is gracious to give to us old age, and we are still walking with our Lord; even then – it will leap up to strike us. In light of this, we must view sanctification as a process of the Spirit overcoming the flesh, rather than of the flesh simply disappearing (1 John 4:3-4, Romans 12:21). Temptation, as well as the desire for the things of this world, will never disappear from the battlefield… but our fight therein, by the work of the Spirit, will become more effective with time.

So, that being said, we’ll get to the analogy (don’t we all love analogies?). There were two that Pastor Mike used this morning, and I’ll mention the first one briefly:

Sanctification is kind of like one of those blow-up “bopper” dolls that kids use as punching bags: you punch it, it falls down, it comes back up. This is similar to our fight against sin in that once a temptation is defeated… it doesn’t stay down for long! This means that we will never stop “bopping” our sins. The good news is, however, that the “bopping” does become easier, because our arm becomes stronger the more we use it.

Okay, good analogy and all, but this is not the one of chief concern for this post. Here goes:

“Sanctification is like a man playing with a yo-yo while walking up stairs.”

I know, I know… but stay with me here…

The yo-yo will continue to go up and down, just as we continue to have highs and lows in our spiritual walk and in our fight against sin. However… we are still moving upward with every step that we take!

There is danger in focusing too much on any of the highs or lows of the yo-yo itself. Concentrating on a point where the yo-yo is near the floor robs you of your joy and ignores the power of the cross; concentrating on a point where the yo-yo is at its apex will set you up for disappointment when it falls back down.

Therefore, let us run the race as to receive the prize (1 Corinthians 4:24-27, Philippians 3:12-14), and let us not be discouraged if we fall down: the race is not over, the prize is still in sight! We must be confident that

He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6

This means that God is actively sanctifying us through the glorious work of His Spirit, and that this work is currently being perfected. Try no longer to do what God is already doing in you! Turn to Him and receive the boundless joy that is to be found in freedom from sin!