I am sitting here thinking how many different posts I have started and stopped thinking I am to write about some profound thought or thing in my life and I seem to end up never posting anything to my blog. Then I realized writing on my blog doesn't have to be all profound or theological. All it needs to be is something that I feel passionate about at the time I am writing.
So I stop to think about what am I most passionate about at this very moment. Ah, what could that possibly be. Well, as I sit here racking this brain of mine (yes for my closest friends I do have one of those LOL) I realize one of the things that really is on my heart at this moment is something that God spoke to me about last night while I was sitting in my Romans class at seminary. (Thanks Brother Roy). We were going over Romans chapter 6 and preparing for our finals next week when we started to discuss the scriptures Romans 6: 1-2.
Romans 6:
(v1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (v2) Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? NKJV
One of the examples that was used for this scripture was that of a dead body. You can touch it, caress it, and move it's hand but there is no responds. I had never really thought of this scripture in this way. Then there was a short story of a young pastor that was truly on fire for God and in this same church was an old deacon that was set in his ways, basically his way or no way. For years the old deacon would discourage, oppose and criticize the young pastor. One day a member of the church asked the young pastor how he managed to put up with this deacon and he simply replied, "I died to him five years ago." The young pastor had grasped the concept of the believer's death with Christ.
So as the scripture says "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" I truly don't think (in my humble opinion) that we have grasped the concept ourselves. If we have or had how could we continue on the way we are with worrying about the problems that our children are in or the direction they are going. Continue finding ourselves stressed out and letting our health be effected by the things that our family members put us through. Get mad and upset when someone doesn't see things the same way we do in our work place or even in church. Even as simple as being on the road and getting cutoff and getting mad and passing that anger off to the next person we meet.
I know to some people these are things that we take with us daily but even the little things worry, anger and so many other are all sins that if we are truly in Christ we have died to. We should be like the corpes and the young pastor and really die to these things. Let them go we say that we believe and trust in God then die to these sins and let him take over for us. I am not just writing this for those reading this I am writing this with myself included. And I am not saying that we (I) am/are prefect but we should strieve to be. Yes we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But I praise him daily for the grace that he has given us all.
So what I plan to do that next time I find myself in these situations I am going to remind myself as the younger pastor said "I have died to this" and give it to Christ.
Lord, Thank you so much for the gift of grace you have given each of us that are your children. Lord I pray for strength to continue walking daily in your light and to remember daily that we who have accepted you as our Lord and Savior died to these sins with your son Jesus Christ. In your blessed Sons name I pray AMEN
