The Other Side of the Coin

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for those are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

Galatians 5:16-17

I want to tell you about one of the greatest literary villains of all time. Once a champion of good, but tormented and twisted into a thing of evil. Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. Raised by an abusive, alcoholic father, who would toss his lucky two-headed coin to determine whether to punish or spare his young son.  In spite of the background, Harvey grew up to be a fine upstanding young man, eventually becoming District Attorney of Gotham City, prosecuting evil criminals in the courts, working closely with both Batman and Commissioner Gordon. During the trial of a Mob Boss, acid was flung at him in the courtroom, burning the left side of his face, creating such torment that the evil nature his father had instilled in him finally found voice. From that point on, both evil and good struggled within him, often to the point that he would flip his father's coin (one side scratched off) to determine yes or no, right or wrong, life or death.

Pretty awesome for a comic book, right? But unlike Jekyll/Hyde (which inspired Bob Kane's creation) the torment was continual. Mr. Hyde would be there sometimes, Dr. Jekyll others. Two Face was both at all times. Both sides in continual battle for the soul.

It is the same with us. Evil and Good constantly at war within each of us. Each of us capable of saintly charity or satanic vice. And we must choose between them, but no coin can decide this outcome. The Spirit of God is always there, always waiting on our choice, but so often we don't choose Him. We fall. We fail. You would assume that would be our end. Yet over and over God's grace is greater than our sin. Relentlessly He continues to pursue us, fight for us, waiting to be our choice. It is a continual struggle. Daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute, we must choose to follow Him. Yet even when we don't...

"I will never leave you or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

"Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD." Romans 8:38-39

And one of the best...

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:20-23

The struggle is real. Life or Death in the balance. Heads or Tails.

We have only to choose.