Good Day to all y'all. I'm a couple days late with posting, and lucky that I'm mot preachin' from a pulpit yet, or I'da been in a lot of trouble for not having a sermon ready a few days ago. But, better late than never, here it is. SIN. What is a sin, and when does "it" become a sin to us? Let's talk about that for a while....
We may get to a verse or two in a bit. But, let's start off with a definition that I apply to my life. A sin is anything that goes against God and His teachings, His Word, the Bible. More specifically, it is sin if it doesn't lift up and glorify Him. Wow. That kind limits a few things in life, huh? Maybe, but maybe some of these things Need more limits in our lives. A few years back I used to see bumper stickers and bracelets and such with a slogan that said WWJD(What would Jesus Do?). Just think about how straight forward life would become if we started to ask that question before we did even the most menial of tasks. I can't think of any time that we couldn't apply that logic to our daily lives and affairs. We certainly wouldn't have to worry much about sin, now would we?
I think a story might fit well and explain a few things here. I started smoking cigarettes at the ripe old age of 13. Now almost 32 years later, it's become quite ingrained in my daily habit. Like all of us who have smoked know, unless you live under a rock, Science is pretty sure that smoking is bad for us. It will kill us. It is harmful to our lungs and our bodies. It offends a lot of other folks. It smells, and it may even affect the health of others' too. I'm also pretty sure that God, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and the rest of "The 12" would slap a Sin label on our puffing habit. Yet, even after God led me back into His arms 5 years ago, I continued to smoke. Now, since August of 2008 I've beaten the addiction of alcohol, anxiety meds, and marijuana, and a lot of pent-up anger at the world in general. Additionally, many of my other life addictions have taken a back seat. You'd think that smoking would be a cinch. Nahhht exactly. But, when I heard the call from God in my heart to ministry and to preach His Word, my habit really began to gnaw at me. Over the last year I even felt like it was coming between me and my spiritual relationship with Him. But, each time I tried to quit, I'd end up smoking like a chimney the last few days, which made it impossible for me to stop, I'd get so stressed at the mere thought of taking that last drag. Over the last few weeks, I really felt like there was a disconnect going on in my spiritual life. I was doing everything I could to be close to the Lord. But, every time I'd pick up a cigarette, I'd be riddled with guilt. That guilt was getting between me and God. The last straw was about 3 weeks ago, when I was counseling someone who had come to me to discuss getting cleaned up. They were fighting a few addictions, one of which was smoking, and they were asking my advice about how to handle stopping all these things. At that moment I felt like such a hypocrite. I took two days to smoke that last pack, and now I'm a quitter and a winner! And I feel closer to God than ever. Praise the Lord!
For the many years that I smoked and drank and drugged, I knew I was hurting my body, but I had accepted that I was okay with it. I knew I'd live a few years less, and that was fine with me. All along this road of addictions, I'd been in and out of church a lot, too. I knew what I was doing fell into that classification of sin, but I figured that as long as I was just hurting me, it wasn't that big a deal. When that summer of 2008 began, I knew I would be dead within months if I didn't quit the alcohol and drugs soon. (Fortunately, God was waiting for me in Rehab.) The last few years have been relatively easy regarding those addictions, now that God is leading me on His path. But, the day I felt cigarettes step between me and my spiritual relationship, I knew that I had to finally put them down, as well. This experience has caused me to look back at all the many other "addictions" I've had in my life; ya know, things that took control of or encompassed my life at times. It was then that I began to see a pattern in my walk with Jesus. You might say that some of my addictions bordered on Idolatry, and when they were important in my life, God wasn't as important in my life. Sometimes, work was my addiction. Other times it was partying. Sometimes it was playing and writing music. Sometimes it was finding drugs, or drinking. Sometime it was motorcycles. But, whatever "IT" was, "IT" was always coming between me and God. Today, God has replaced many of my other addictions, and sins. I'll forever be working on them, and more, but I've never seen nor found so much peace in my life before I learned some of these lessons. I still enjoy some of these things, but I keep a close eye on them to ensure that they don't become a focal point of my life again, causing me to live in s i n....
Well, I could've filled up this post with quotes and scripture, defining sin, and what types of sin there are. But, I think that most of us know in our hearts when we are doing things that aren't what Jesus would be doing. Learning to ask the WWJD question first in our lives EVERY time isn't easy at first. But, as we work towards a God-centered life, it does get easier and more automatic. It comes along with our strengthening ourselves with a daily devotional with our bibles, and by forming our relationship with God. That spiritual walk with Him has become the central desire in my life. It has brought me hope and love, in a world that doesn't seem to have much, lately. But, my walk must be daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes just minute by minute. I know I won't ever be free from sin while I'm walking this earth, but that doesn't deter me from giving it my best to try to be that way.
Remember, Folks. Hope isn't something we can go out and pick up at the store. It takes time for us to change from doing things the way we used to, and waiting for God to come to us. It simply doesn't wok that way. We have to go to HIM. And the first step is to figure out what sin or sins are coming between us and God and our spiritual one-ness with Him. We must learn to walk daily with Him, Find a church, start a 5 minute devotional each morning, and each night before bed, and Get into a bible study group or Sunday School. If you don't fit in with your church, find a new one. Fortunately, there are churches on every other corner in our towns. There IS one out there for you. I promise. Fellowship is an essential part of developing your relationship with the Lord. Finally, sit down and have an honest talk with yourself. We all know where some sin lies in our lives. All these other things will help us to weed out the rest, and lead us back to that bumper sticker becoming foremost in our hearts....
"What WOULD Jesus Do???"
May God bless you and bring y'all peace, comfort, and Love.
In His Service,
Bro. Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment