Wake up! Time To Die!
- Leon to Deckard in Blade Runner
This is a well known line from what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest future noir films of all time. But it has become more than just a cool quote to me. It is a reminder than there are things in this world and times in our life when it is better to die than to live. There are indeed fates that are worse than death, and, usually, that's because they are horribly painful and a slow paths to death.
Wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker. Suicide is slow with liquor.
- Ozzy Osbourne
For those who can enjoy controlled drink, this may seem like a call to prohibition, but it's not. There are many who can enjoy alcohol without losing control, and I tip my hat to you. But for those like me who are alcoholics, to drink is to return to the service of a sadistic slave master who will drive us to death and destruction slowly and as painfully as possible. If there are only the two options of a quick death or a slow one that first kills or steals away everything that matters to me, I, for one, would prefer the quick death, especially if the quick death, ironically gives, and leads to life.
When temptation and the enemy come against us, it's best not to be taken alive. Few can stand up to the torture at the hands of the enemies of life and love for long. There are times when the siren's call of sin is so strong that we are hopeless and powerless to ignore it or resist it. We are told to flee temptation because battling it is a struggle that is more often lost than not, especially when we rely on our own determination and will power. But how do we keep temptation from pursuing and overtaking us as we try to escape?
There is a way of escape for every temptation, and the surest way to escape the plans of an enemy is to rob him of his ability to reach you. If we fall on our sword rather than allow ourselves to be captured alive, then the torturer has nothing with which to work. Yes, I said to fall on our sword, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). When we are under the control of and within the will of the Spirit, we won't fall for the desires of temptation from within or without (Galatians 5:16).
The truth and promises of God in His Word are the weapon that we wield against ourselves to protect us from sin and temptation. Why, not wield it against the enemy? There is a time and place for that, but before we can resist the devil or stand and fight the darkness, we must first be in the light as He is in the light (I John 1:7), and we must be clothed in the spiritual armor of the Spirit. To be in the Spirit, we must die. We have to die to self in order to follow and live in Christ. Take up our cross, embrace the device of our self execution, fall on the Sword of the Spirit.
When I feel overwhelmed and the stress of life drives me to distraction and fear that I must change the way I feel any way I can, as quickly as I can, I can fall on the sword by remembering that I am not alone for He is always with me, and He is an ever present help in time of trouble. When the message of my messed up mind or outside influence is that the wrong I am being drawn to is not that bad or really a big deal, I can defend myself through death remembering that life comes through relationship with and conscious contact with God and that His Word says the pure of heart will see Him (Matthew 5:8).
When mind and body are being pulled to a slow and destructive death due to instincts gone awry, pressure and deception from outside, or fear, the Sword of the Spirit can kill that craving, but it is most effective when we use it on our own will and mind. When we wake to the life that comes through Jesus, it is by embracing the truth that makes us free in spirit. But to be aware of the presence of God is to expose ourselves to His glory, and His glory burns away that which is not of Him or like Him, that which is not love. The old and cursed nature of self can not live when it sees the face of God.
For me, sometimes the greatest promise that I cling to as I fall on the Sword is not so much a specific verse but a general understanding of the truth that makes me free. To be awake and alive in my spirit is only possible through relationship with, and through the love, grace and truth of, Jesus. Sometimes I don't need to do anything more than tell myself to wake up! It's time to die! My focus is then directed outward, off of self, onto Jesus, the One who came to set me free and suffered a slow death so that I could be quickened by a quick death in Him, and my ears and instincts and reflexes become as numb to the call of the siren as one who is dead and can not respond to stimuli.
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