WALKING AWAY FROM SIN
This is a very interesting time in our world. We have been in a state of quarantine for about 5-6 weeks now. It’s really easy to feel panicked and stressed and get into the habit of laziness with our attention putting our priorities on things other than Christ. For me, I started to slide back into my old habits, habits that I had previously gotten away from. These habits or sins keep us away from God. If we aren’t careful and mindful of our actions, we’ll get caught up in the temporary moments of pleasure that we get from our sins. Our sins please our flesh, but our flesh does not desire to please God. What we should be doing is getting caught up in the future. What does that mean? Our actions directly affect our futures. I like to think about it this way. You know the saying, “tomorrow isn’t promised,” right? Well, it’s not just a saying. Tomorrow isn’t promised to us. God has the say of when our last moment on earth will be and do you want that last moment to be in sin? No, of course not. So now what? If I’m not sinning, then I’m working to glorify God will my entire being. Colossians 3:2 says, “Fix your thoughts on things above,” and if you continue reading on, verse 5 says to, “put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within us.”
Our nature is in sin, but our lives are in righteousness. When Christ, the Lamb of God, shed his blood on the cross, it cleansed our sins forevermore. Christ died in the cross so that we might be saved. When he rose, he won the victory over sin. Sin has no stronghold over us. We have the power and authority, through Christ, to walk away from the sin in our lives. When we walk away from sin, we are refusing to allow sin to be in our lives. In doing this, we put to death the “sinful, earthy things lurking within us.” We are fixing our thoughts on what is “true, honorable, right, and pure,” just as we are told to do in Philippians 4:8. In doing this, we replace that need to sin that our flesh desires with things above, the righteous and holy actions that follow God’s will for us. God has so much in store for our lives, and when we make the decision to choose God daily, we honor God in all that we do. I want to spend my life pleasing God in all that I do. In this time of quarantine, this is something that God has spoken to me about. God is so gracious to us!! I choose to spend my life honoring God, what about you?
~ Gerald Denson, Jr.