Day 2640 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

James 4:17 NIV

There's an indisputable fact regarding sin that absolutely nobody wants to admit. It's something that immediately destroys all of the excuses that we look to whenever we do something wrong. It's a truth that we know in our hearts but try to ignore with our minds so that we can somehow try to get by with doing as we please without incurring the shame and guilt for having done wrong. That unavoidable fact is that sin, every sin is a choice.

It's a choice. Now we all know that it may not seem like it in the moment. Whenever our eyes are glued to the allure of what's sinful and our hearts are set to the tune of the appeal that sin offers, it's hard to remember that we're making a choice. At the time it's almost impossible to think of that fact because we're so consumed with what we want to do. We're zeroed in on satisfying that desire, soothing that craving, and putting ourselves first for just a second or two.

But the fact remains that sin is a choice. You see, no matter how hard it can be to keep in mind whenever something wrong grabs our attention, we still have other options. We are not forced to do anything. Ever. Nearly everything in life is a choice. We choose what we wear. We choose what we eat. We choose what we say. We choose how kind or how rude we are toward others. We choose what color of car we drive. We choose what movies we watch and what music we listen to. We each make hundreds if not thousands of choices every single day.

So the whole idea of making choices and having options is by no means nothing new to us. We've been making choices from given options since we were kids. But when did we decide to adopt this mindset that certain things are beyond our control? When did we decide to let the world around or the lust within us dictate our choices for us? When did we reach that moment where we conveniently chose to forget that even our refusal to try to choose what's right is still a choice? Why do we allow ourselves to get away with doing what’s wrong as if we didn’t have the option to choose to do what was right instead?

It’s all this foolish game that we’ve learned to play because we think it gives us some kind of wiggle room to do as we please while ignoring the responsibility that comes with the fact that we’re the only ones who can make our choices. Don’t get me wrong, sin is incredible at doing its job. Sin’s job is to lure us away from God by offering exactly what we crave. It seeks out our unique individual desires and uses those as weapons to defeat us. The devil learns our wants and wishes and then uses them against us so that he can pull us away from God and off of the path that leads toward righteousness.

But still, that underlying fact remains unavoidable. As great as the devil may be at offering us exactly what our sinful hearts desire, it’s our choice to give in to those desires. It’s our choices to choose what the devil offers us over what God calls us to do. It’s our choice to give up, to give in, to roll over and accept defeat without ever even raising a hand to even attempt to fight back. And yes, that’s hard to do. It’s even harder when we’re being offered everything we want. It’s harder to do when suddenly we’re being handed the fulfillment of every dream and desire. But still, it’s a choice.

Friends, we have to stop ignoring this fact. We have to stop trying to pretend that we don’t know better because we do. God made sure of that. Mankind chose to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so now we know better. God breathed out His Word that was written down to form the Scripture of the Bible so that we’d know better. He sent Christ to help us visually see the cost of choosing to live in the wrong so that we’d know better. Folks, we’re out of excuses!

Sin is choice. Just as so many other things in life, choices bring options. And no matter how hard it may be, we’re solely responsible for making the right choices from all the options we’re given. Sin will always bring us exactly what our fallen hearts crave. But it’s our responsibility to choose what’s right over what we want. It’s our responsibility to choose the path of righteousness over the far easier path of selfishness. It’s our responsibility to look at the sins that we’re offered every single day and say, “No, I choose to do what God wants me to do over what I want to do.”

No matter how much we may like it, there are expectations and then there are compromises. And for far too long we’ve settled for compromising on the calling of the cross and the expectations of our Father to live holy and upright lives in a broken world that’s falling apart due to more sin than should ever exist. We have to either choose to stand up and fight back or simply keep allowing the devil to drag us around by the lust of our hearts using all those things we desire as the carrots that keep telling us where to go.

The next time you feel sin calling your name and offering you exactly what you want, remember that you have another choice. You have the right to choose to ignore that lie. You have the ability to choose to do what God calls you to do. You have the option to choose to die to self and live for righteousness. May not be an easy choice or even an easy thing to remember when we’re blinded by the sudden opportunity to get or do something that we want. But it’s a choice nonetheless. And if we don’t stop choosing sin and start choosing what’s right then we’ve got a long, miserable, horrific eternity ahead of us.

But as hard as it may be to start choosing to do what’s right, we get better with practice. We learn new ways to fight back. We learn to find the strength and the confidence we have inside that help us stand up to the enemy that sin really is. We learn to lean on God and focus more on Him than ever before. It’s gonna take some time, some practice, and every ounce of faith we have. But friends, we can learn to make better choices. And when it comes to this war against the sinful desires of the flesh, we can’t afford to keep knowing what’s right and failing to choose it because doing so is sin. And trying to pass it off by claiming we didn’t know or we were too weak or whatever other tired excuse we’ve beat to death by this point just isn’t going to work. So stop looking to excuses to cover your mistakes and simply start fighting to make better choices.

It may never be easy, but we have to remember that it’s a matter of life and death. And when our choices can very well bring about our demise, well, that gives us plenty of reason to try harder.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold