Stick It To The "Man"

   The scriptures mention a lot about a "natural man." What is the natural man? In the "Guide to the Scriptures" it states: "A person who chooses to be influenced by the passions, desires, appetites, and senses of the flesh rather than by the promptings of the Holy Spirit..." We also read that the "natural man is an enemy to God.." (Mosiah 3:19). So yielding to those desires of the natural man is contrary to God's will for us. As a missionary, I have experienced the natural man in a lot of ways, some I didn't expect. To me, the natural man is someone who wants to take the easy road. The "path with least resistance" as they say. The natural man will look for any way to get out of doing something hard. As missionaries, we have a pretty rigorous and strict schedule:

6:15am Arise and pray 
6:30-7:00 exercise 
7:00-7:55 shower, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:00-9:00 personal study
9:00-10:00 companionship study
10:00-11:00 language study (Spanish)
11:00-12:00 lunch 
12:00-9:00pm work, work, work. 

  That is the schedule we keep, rain or shine, sick or healthy, sore or not, even on Christmas Day, Sunday or your birthday. There are a lot of things in this schedule the natural man doesn't want to do. The natural man doesn't want to wake up before the sun is up, kneel down and pray. He doesn't want to exercise for at least half an hour before 7am every single morning (except Sunday). He doesn't want to be all ready by 8:00 to study for 3 straight hours. He doesn't want to be on his feet non-stop for 9 hours, talking to people on the streets, getting yelled at, kicked out of apartment complexes and ridiculed. What he really wants to do is sleep in, eat whatever and whenever he wants. Sleep instead of study. Stay inside and play video games or watch TV instead of always being on the move, being productive. The natural man doesn't want to be productive and effective. So if the natural man is an enemy to God, we cannot afford to yield to those things that the natural man wants to do. Otherwise, it puts us in a sticky situation with God. In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says "...the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit." We can't receive spiritual knowledge or progression if we continuously yield to the natural man. How can we overcome him? Studying the scriptures. Praying. Going to church every Sunday. Fulfilling our callings in the church. And much more.
   Now, hear me out. I am not saying that I have completely overcome the natural man. I am far from saying that. Is it hard for me to get up EVERY morning between 6:15 and 6:30am? Yes. Absolutely. Is it hard for me to leave the apartment at noon, knowing it could be 92 degrees outside, and knowing I won't come back for 9 hours? Yes. I fight with the natural man every day. We all do, in our own ways. Do I yield to him sometimes? Yes I do. But I keep fighting. I ain't perfect. We may lose battles here and there. We just have to win the war. 

"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." Mosiah 3:19