Sin is something that many are wrapped in. Many enjoy the pleasures of sin. Let it be noted that it is only for a short time that this pleasure will last, but Hell will last an eternity. Sin may feel good for a moment, but even looking at the lifespan of a person, we can see how sin has deteriorated the body, mind, and spirit. How many old drunks do you know that have a sound mind? How many do you know have a body that is in shape? Do not most look much older than they really are? Sin will destroy your spirit, soul, and body. It will destroy you not only in this life. It will start out only as a temptation but after you fall into it, it will turn to lust, lust turns to sin, and sin brings death. (See James 1:15)
The average person, churchgoer or not, hates conviction. Many people have no idea what conviction truly is. Conviction is the love of God manifest. (Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.) God loves you so much that not only would He send his Son to die for you, but also he wants to warn you that there is a day of Judgment and that we must live upright. Conviction is that warning. When you hold your conscience in one hand and the Bible in the other, how do you look? Just imagine the Bible and your conscience closing in on you in that Day of Judgment if you are not cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. When is the last time you have not done something that you know was good to do but you did it not? Sin it more than just "bad things you have done" but those good things you should have done. Life is a decision. Every decision today effects tomorrow and in turn effects eternity. Are you walking with awareness of eternity?
Many Christians have much sin in there lives. Not only much but so much that they are swimming in a bathtub of sin and the plug is about to be pulled and they will be sucked down that drain. Just imagine laying there with that nice warm water. Oh, yes it feels great doesn't it? You have all your little toys floating around you. Could life get much better? Then the drain is pulled. You see the water receding and all is passing away. Now that the water is going down you are there exposed, naked for all to see. Oh but not only is your sin exposed as you sit there with no fun but you feel the drain sucking you down. You were so attached to your sin that you cannot help but follow your master.
God has a better way. Christian, sinner alike, Jesus desires to clean you of your filth. Look to the cross of Jesus Christ. Sinner, awake from your sleep and open your eyes to what you are doing. Everything thing you are doing while living in disobedience to God is only making your offence to God greater. Turn from your wicked ways and serve the living God. Do this not only for yourself but also for the One that died for you. Can you look into those eyes of burning passion and tell him that he died in vain? Do you feel His drawing? Then there is still hope for you, but you must remember: no man knows the day nor the hour of His coming or his own death.
Christian can you sit with all your spiritual knowledge and just sit and watch? Are you a spiritual glutton? Do you have revelation of God, but no resolution to work for Him? Do you have sin? If yes, then why? If greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world is true, why do you have sin? If the sprit of Christ is in you, who by the way lived a perfect life, why do you feel as though you cannot help but sin? I believe the Bible shows clearly that you can be blameless. Not only that, but it commands us to be blameless (Phi 2:15). You do not have to sin. You can do what is right in the sight of God. You can live for Him. He is worthy to live for. He is worthy to die for. He is worthy of it all. All glory, all honor, all praise, and all of you. Can you be faultless? I do not believe so, but you can be with out sin. One definition according to Websters Dictionary (1828) says a fault is this: whatever impairs excellence. We do have a nature that is bound to this world. We will always have something more we must work towards, more discipline, more prayer, more word of God, more obedience, more evangelism, and many other things. Nevertheless, we can be obedient to the voice of God, but not alone. We do not walk this pilgrimage alone. We walk with the God who made the chaos into cosmos, criminals into kites who soar high with the Lord, and crazies into ones who are wise as serpents but harmless as doves. You can live for God. This has been shown all down through the centuries but the real question is: will you?
_________________ Josh Parsley
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