Day 2240 of the 7 Day Bible verse challenge.


Romans 13:12 NIV

The idea that people like you and I can be a part of something so great, so big, so important is incredible. To have the opportunity to leave our sin filled pasts behind us and live for more is an unmerited gift. Reading through the last little bit of Romans last night and found this one that I think really speaks to what our focus should be. We don't know when Christ is coming back, but we should probably get ready as we're undoubtedly getting closer!

There's no doubt that there is a lot of darkness in our world. So many are lost in sins that people a hundred or a thousand years ago wouldn't have imagined! The things that we say, the way we treat one another, the deeds done in secret are pretty far from righteous or uplifting. A lot of things are broken and messed up down here. And each of us have gotten mixed up in some of it.

That's why it's time to do something different. Time to evaluate our choices, our actions, our words and get things lined out. I think we take the idea of Christ's forgiveness and salvation for granted. We assume that we can continue to be little heathens and do whatever we want. We think that we have this pass to fall back on when we do something we know is wrong. In reality, the cross isn't a hall pass to mess around. It's beacon calling us to stop the foolishness and live with some accountability.

As long as we continue taking sin lightly, we'll continue living in darkness. As long as we give what's wrong the power to control us, we will never know what it's like to live right. And while that may be okay for some, I truly pray that everyone comes to see sin for what it is and what it does. This isn't some game where we can do whatever we want and still get the happily ever after. This is real. It's life and death. It's our eternity. How can we take that lightly?

Jesus paid the price to cover our sins. What did we do with that gift? Did we allow it to change us? Did we use it as the lifeline that pulled us out of the darkness? Did we leave our old ways behind? Or did we just keep doing the very things that held Him to the cross? This isn't a game, it's a war. Time to stop living as a victim of sin and fight for the future that He opened up for us. There is no hiding our sins so we may as well deal with them. Why stay lost in the dark when He is calling us to something better?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 2016 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Image
Matthew 6:20 NIV Yesterday I posed a very big question: have you ever thought about the vastness of eternity? I'm just afraid that so many people are living for these lives only, and that's going to lead to quite a shock when we reach the end of this leg of the trip only to find that something else really does come next. So I just want to encourage everyone to take today's verse to heart. This is one that my mom likes to quote and share quite often. And it's really a very important lesson that everyone needs to learn and always keep in mind. While we're surrounded by all kinds of messages, things, wants, and desires, we need to always keep our priorities in line. We can't afford to let ourselves become distracted by all the wares that our world offers up. The thing that I think we've fallen for is this idea of value. We're told that all this worldly stuff is highly valuable. Now if that's the case, then we automatically think that having it or going
Read more

Day 2018 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Image
Luke 6:27 NIV I was presented the chance earlier today to experience one of those amazing opportunities to realize that I'd been wrong. You see my family and I had bought some Bibles to send to a couple of people, and we just hadn't gotten around to sending them yet. Since the time that we bought them, we kind of had this weird and unfortunate falling out of sorts with one of them. And I'm embarrassed to admit that it had me second guessing whether or not to send the gift.  Seeing as how this difference of opinion has gone, I had gotten it in my mind that I didn't want to send something to someone only for them to throw it away. But all along, my mom has been there saying no, we need to send it anyway. And today, we finally got them boxed up and sent out. But if anything, I may have ended up getting the biggest gift out of everyone involved. We don't get to decide who is worthy of our kindness. We don't get to pick and choose who we're going to do good thing
Read more

Day 3362 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Image
Matthew 15:8 NIV It seems as though perhaps the distance from our heads to our hearts is, at times at least, much the same as the separation we so often feel between here and hope. For though our lips are geographically close to the hearts which pound inside a craving for more than we can say we need, say we know, yet sadly despite their being so near to our knowing what we need, we find that our mouths and our hearts are existing as if in two foreign places. Because while our heads may hold lips that let on that we know we need Heaven's hope as having come in Christ, our hearts remain among the ultimate deceivers as they lead us daily back into the brink wherein we break away all over again into disbelief as designed inside a heart’s desires kindling fires forsaking that faith which yearns only for a fellowship with He who is everything we could ever need. Indeed, it seems to matter not what our tongues here confess as our hearts head us always into following the path our mouths c
Read more