Servants To Obey

I have a favorite devotional book by Dr. Charles Stanley titled “On Holy Ground”. I read through its daily devotions every year. A recent devotion resonated with me. In it Dr. Stanley talks about particular sins that plague us and we need to recognize them for what they are ~ “an offense against a holy God that can only be removed by the blood of Jesus”.  How true that is.

One of the things that I finally recognized in my “particular sin” is found in Romans 6:16. Paul tells us “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” One morning I realized I was obeying my particular sin ~ yielding to it! To me that was key! The Lord showed me that I was first yielding to it in my mind and then, I was placing myself in the path of it. Did you get that? I was intentionally placing myself in the direct path of it!

Once that was revealed to me I had a decision to make ~ just as mentioned in Romans 6:16. Was I going to obey the sin and be servant to it or was I going to obey my Heavenly Father and be servant to His righteousness? The decision was all mine. God didn’t force me ~ he just showed me the truth, as ugly as it was ~ and let me make the decision.

That morning, with God’s help, I intentionally chose to remove myself from the path of that sin. Was it difficult to do ~ absolutely! I liked it! It made me feel good about myself! Satan never wants to let go of a stronghold he has you in ~ he will fight you every step of the way! Does that sin still waffle through my mind? Yes, but now I can recognize it for what it is and take that thought captive to Christ and let him deal with it. And let me tell you ~ I do that quickly! I don’t allow it to hang around in my mind. If I did, I would start to thinking about it to much and start heading right back down that path, and I don’t want to go there! I know all to well where it will take me!

Only after I had made the decision to turn away from that sin could I then rejoice in the next two verses ~ Romans 6:17~18 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

What about you? Are you struggling with a particular sin? If so, ask the Lord to reveal the reality of it you ~ show you what it really is and where it is taking you. Then, make the decision to walk away. No matter what you think you are giving up, how good it seems, or how good it makes you feel right now ~ get rid of it! Loved one let me tell you from experience ~ at the end of that road is death! Maybe not physical death but death of self respect, your credibility, your testimony and a million other things that you are placing at risk. Satan’s scheme isn’t worth it ~ don’t listen to him!

Walk away and ask the Lord to cleanse you from it with his blood and rejoice that you have chosen to obey your Heavenly Father.

Lord, thank you for showing me the sin I was allowing in my life. Let me see my sin as you see it ~ no matter how ugly it may be. Thank you for your faithfulness to forgive me. Help me always make the decision to follow you.