"For every action, there is always an opposite and equal reaction." If we sin, we reap destruction. It's an inescapable fact of life on this planet. We may enjoy the behavior for a season, but the damage always catches up with us eventually.
For
instance: after a night of drinking, we reap a horrid headache or get in a car
accident or receive a ticket from driving while drunk; we experience serious
side effects when using drugs or having multiple sexual partners; loss of income
if we are fired from our job for some unwise behavior; throwing good money
after bad if we gamble, etc.
We
try to find happiness, searching in all the wrong places; and we reap what we
sow. Rejected, hell-bound, unfulfilled, hopeless and helpless, we struggle with
bouts of depression and try to convince our self that we have everything under
control.
Oh,
we make a valiant effort to set goals, work our way to the top of our chosen
profession, and to succeed according to worldly standards. However, the void we
feel inside is still insatiable.
God
calls us to make a searching inventory of our thoughts and choices, and to
thoroughly cleanse our soul of those sins over which we do have control. He
desires that we look to Him to deliver us from those habits from which we
cannot free our self.
He
gives us the tools and spiritual nutrition that we need to grow into mature
Saints of God (1 Peter 2:1-3; Philippians 2:12-13). We honor Him by following
His perfect plans for us each moment of the day.
Our
Father God sets us on a hill as a beacon of light, gets the glory for our good
works, is proud of us for our good citizenship, and encourages us to use our
free will to choose to serve Him and to reap the benefits of living in His
Kingdom now and for eternity.
God does not deal with our sin, and require a blood sacrifice, in order to punish us, but to protect us from the devastation that sin brings into our life. His love is four-dimensional and surrounds and fills us through our entire being (Romans 8:31-39).
Prayer:
Father
God, You set Jesus as the living Corner Stone for Your Temple made without
hands. Then You place us exactly where You want us in the foundation, or the
walls, or the towers in order to continue this building process and to allow us
to serve You with our life.
You
also calls us as holy priests to serve in Your sanctuary (1 Peter 2:4-6). We
want nothing more from life than to recognize that we are crucified with
Christ, and the life which we now live on this earth is motivated by our faith
in You, because You love us and gave Yourself for us (Galatians 2:20).
Thought
for the Day:
Our
Loving Heavenly Father instructs and teaches us how to live in this sin-cursed
world; then, He shows us what to do each moment of our day - which path to
follow, and He gives counsel on the best way to perform the service to Him to
which He calls each one of us individually and collectively as the Body of
Christ. - Psalm 32:8
