Mortify
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live … Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth” (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5).
Many years ago, while flying over India, Handley Page, a famous British aviator, was alarmed by the sound of some animal, presumably a rat, active near him, but out of his sight and reach, having evidently come aboard his plane before take-off. There was no convenient place to land to rid himself of the unwelcome passenger. There were wires, hoses and cables which a rat could soon damage, and their damage could mean loss of control or power. That could mean disaster! What could he do? Handley remembered that the rats common to the plains were not found higher in the mountains because of the thinner air. So, he took his plane as high as he could and kept it there until the ratty noises had long ceased. Upon landing, he found and removed the dead rat. He had mortified that rat by high flight.
We too can keep the sinful flesh in the place of death by flying high … in other words, “Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).
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