This past Wednesday I was speaking with Terry Alexander and he asked me a poignant question.  He said, “Why do we still sin?”  Now Terry understands that we saints fall to sin now and again because our sinful flesh lingers.  He gets it.  He was trying to show the audacity of the redeemed returning to sin.  How can we who are given access to the majesty of God return again to the muck and mire of our former lives?  We were dead in our trespasses and sins, why would we return again to death leaving behind the life and joy we found walking with Jesus?

So many times we are tempted and fall.  In the heat of the moment, when the temptation you struggle with hits and your judgement fogs, beliving the lie feels like the most natural thing in the world.   We slip back into sin and it feels like falling into bed or a bath, easy and good.

If only we could understand.  When you bring in the light, when the spell breaks, you find yourself sitting in filth, the bed full of spiders, the bath gone septic.  It is here that so many of us waste our lives.  Nassar preached on freedom because we need to remember we are free.  The curse is broken and sin is dead.

I think because of the influence of the world, because we don’t spend time like we should in scripture, investing into our relationship with God, we think sin makes sense.  Pride is just how guys hang out, lingering eyes are as normal as breathing, gossip is not but juicy conversation.  Just as sinful, it makes sense to sit out when asked to be obedient.  Small groups are hard.  Childcare is difficult.  Service is time consuming, it can’t be that big of a deal. 

Beloved let the light of scripture shine down on our sin.  When scripture shows us truth we will see that lust, pride, laziness, apathy, gossip, jealousy are the walls of a prison.  When we submit to the rules Christ has for us we drop the shackles and walk outside.  We learn to live in His economy, giving to Him and warmed by the bright light of His grace, courage in our hearts, purpose in our minds and wind at our backs.  For His glory and your good live no longer as a slave.

You are free.

Ben

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Encouragement.