Koi Fish and the Natural Man

My family have a koi fish pond. So often when we enter the backyard, we see the koi fish surfacing, and looking as if they were swallowing air. Thier indication to us was obvious: they desire sustenance. My mother teaches that the koi fish are always hungry, and that the more you feed them, the more waste they will release into the water, and therefore the more cleaning required out of risk of poisoning the fish.

I'm no expert like my father in caring for fish, but having done some research, apparently (and obviously) overfeeding has the same effect on fish as it does on humans - the approach of obesity. Organs become endangered, and hence their lives.

The natural man is also known to be hungry - so often! It is this hunger of the natural man that causes our overeating and lack of control. It is this hunger that drives the appetite and addiction to pornography. It is this hunger that has us seeking for worldly pleasure, and many times leaving the gospel because the gospel is a lifestyle (amongst other things) of abstenance, discipline and self-control.

Consider these aspects of the gospel: fasting challenges our personal will over personal appetite. Tithing challenges our trust in God's all powerful ability of providence over our greed or need for money. Studying the scriptures each day challenges our faith in where our quality time can be dedicated.

So how do we overcome the natural man? Is there a Way? Is it possible? It's power seems overwhelming, even being the cause of the existence of vengeance, murderers, molestors, betrayals, laziness, etc as a great tool of the adversary to accompliah his evil designs.

The Book of Mormon, as it almost always does, has the solution taught within it's pages. I have learnt to remember thay whenever a prophet speaks of an issue in the world, the solution of God is spoken by the same prophet's lips soon after, at least in close proximity.

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Let us list the steps/process here:
• Yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.
• Put off the natural man.
• Becometh a Saint through the Atonement of Christ.
• Become as a child: submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love.

Some personal applications we can take here:

• When you feel that warm, deep, gentle prompting of God, we need to obey.

• "Put off the natural man" has the image in my mind of for example a man trying to hold a woman, but the woman keeps pushing him away. If the man has a reputation of rape and murder, how do you imagine the woman would be reacting? We should push the natural man away likewise.

• The natural man will not be bridled completely - unless we are becoming a saint. A saint is a follower of Christ. Through applying His Atonement in our lives, we can find healing, forgiveness, belonging, hope, faith, strength, ability, love for all (including the seemingly unlovable), true happiness, eternal destiny, and even exaltation and eternal life.

• This is the image we receive of who we will become if we apply the Atonement and bridle the natural man: submissive to the Father's will, meek to accept and face bravely and righteously all the Father places in our path, humble to accept weaknesses and use strengths to bless othersin the Lord's will, patient in awaiting the Lord's timing, full of love knowing all are God's children, whom He lives just as much as anyone else including ourselves.

I close this entry with a quote I was most impressed with upon reading online: Instead of saying "Lord, I don't know how I'm going to do this", we can say, " Lord, I can't wait to see how you do this!"