Put to death

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming."
Colossians 3:5-6

I consider myself to be a positive, upbeat person. (I was even a part of an Optimist Club as a teenager...and my dad was the President! and I'm not joking!) So, sometimes, these are the kinds of uncomfortable verses many of us may want to skim or skip over- you know- the "death", "sexual immorality", "idolatry", or "wrath" type verses. But, heaven forbid that we would do such a thing. Sin is real. Sin is rampant. God's wrath is real. We see the consequences of sin everyday. How do we stop the downward spiral of morality? By... PUTTING TO DEATH those things which are against God's will. I thought about this instruction given by Paul in verse 5- "Put to death". We need to kill sin. It is not good enough to let it rest, for it will wake up again. It can have no breath in it- no life- no chance of revival. We have to starve sin to death. How? By not feeding our minds and hearts with the nastiness of this world. (examples: bad movies, suggestive TV shows, worldly magazines, questionable internet sites, foolish company, etc.) In order to put sin to death, unplug all possible forms of life-support. This is the ONLY way you will be successful in following Paul's instructions in Colossians 3:1-2, "...set your hearts on things above...set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."