Flee from all this

In his helpful, biblically grounded, but densely written book, Tim Chester provides some useful illustrations of what fleeing from evil desires looks like in real life:

Colin always wanted to be in control. So at work he stopped monitoring tasks he'd delegated. At first he worried about them, but he refused to let himself check up on people. He put his electronic personal organizer in a drawer and went back to a paper diary. At home he threw away his lists. He decided not to plan his Saturdays but take them as they came.

Emma found refuge in shopping. She cut out window-shopping and browsing online. She went shopping only when she needed something and always used a shopping list. She hit the TV mute button during the commercials, canceled her shopping catalogs, and stopped buying glossy magazines.1

May we be people who know our weaknesses and have the heart, insight and discipline to create boundaries for ourselves. May we respect what we each must do and encourage one another in it.


1 T Chester, You Can Change (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 137.