8-9-2015 Changed Into His Image

In his book “Changed Into His Image,”
Jim Berg tells the story of Kirk, a
shipping clerk who was a good worker,
but who was perpetually late for work
each morning. He came for counseling
when his job was on the line. He heard
his alarm every morning, got out of
bed, and shut it off, only to go back to
bed and then, an hour later, frantically
try to get ready and get to work without
enough time. He admitted to the
counselor that he was convicted by the Holy Spirit about
not returning to bed, but did it anyway. He concluded that
he had a self-discipline problem. The counselor said, “Kirk,
if I come by for the next week and wake you up, will you
stay up and get ready?” He said, “Of course.” Mr. Berg
pointed out to Kirk that his problem was not just lack of selfdiscipline,
but was actually the sin of disobedience to God.
It was even more than that, in that it should have made Kirk
realize that he had more respect for the counselor than he
had for the Holy Spirit. Kirk simply needed to change his
self-serving habits of staying up watching T.V. till the early
hours of the morning. He had been justifying it by thinking
since he was a good worker, he owed himself this pleasure
to make up for the day’s “rat race.” It was no wonder that
Kirk felt guilty about his walk with the Lord, and never
witnessed to his lost co-workers, or confronted them about
their shameless sensual talk and actions. If we don’t want
the old carnal flesh to dominate us, we need to learn not to
cater to its desires and false notions. Let’s listen and give
more honor to the Holy Spirit than we would to a respected
friend. Do we tend to call it lack of self-discipline when it
really looks more like disobedience?