One day an elderly grandfather was sharing a story with his grandson. He began to tell the young man about the two wolves that are within every person. He said that there is a good wolf and a bad wolf within each of us and they are constantly fighting with each other. The good wolf wants us to do things that would glorify God, to have patience, to show love to one another, and to follow the commandments God has given to us. The bad wolf wants us to follow another path, to be disrespectful, to follow the lusts of our flesh, to have no self-control, etc...
These two wolves are constantly in a battle with one another and the wolf that wins will eventually control the person that it inhabits. That person will either become a good person or a bad person.
As the grandfather went on his grandson asked the obvious question,
"Grandpa, which wolf will win the fight within me?"
The grandfather replied, "Whichever one you feed."
The moral of the story is that we should feed the good wolf so that it may win the battle.
The Bible doesn't quite put it the same exact way, but that story does point us toward very Biblical premises. We know that our flesh nature is corrupt and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9) If we feed the sin nature we can expect to reap a sinful lifestyle and eventually an eternity in Hell. (Romans 6:21) If we feed the righteous nature that has been planted in us by Jesus Christ's shed blood, then we will ultimately reap holiness and an eternity with Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:22)
We are called to submit ourselves to God and to 'resist the devil and he will flee' (James 4:7). Satan is like a bully with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). If you do not keep him entertained his attention will start to wander off elsewhere and he will move on to another target. He is like 'a roaring lion.. seeking whom he may devour', (1 Peter 5:8) but even a hungry lion will give up on it's target and find food elsewhere if the target proves difficult to obtain.
We are faced with a decision every time that we wake up, every time temptation comes our way, every time difficulty raises it's head, every time our flesh wants us to become lethargic and slack off in our spiritual endeavors or live for materialistic goals. Every day we have to wake up ready to go to battle. Every moment we must remember that we are in a war. The more we feed the sin nature, the materialistic nature, the self-serving nature, we are setting ourselves up for a lifestyle of rebellion and selfishness that bears no eternal fruit. The more we feed the righteous nature, the sacrificial nature, the life-giving nature, we are setting ourselves up to become more like Jesus Christ and to bear an abundance of eternal fruit.
John Piper once said that he hears "so many Christians murmuring about their imperfections and their failures and their addictions and their shortcomings", and he sees "so little war. Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way? MAKE WAR!!" We are in the midst of a cosmic struggle. This is not a game, THIS IS A WAR! If you lose a battle you get up and fight on to ensure that you win the war overall. Don't stay down when you fall, get up and get cleaned off before you lose the war! No matter what yesterday brought us, WE MUST MAKE WAR DAILY!!!
Sin nature vs. the Imparted Righteous Nature of Jesus Christ.
The good wolf vs. the bad wolf.
WHICH WOLF DO YOU CHOOSE TO FEED?
