| I Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35
“He rescued them many times, but they continued to rebel deliberately and were beaten down by their sin. When He heard their cry, He took note of their distress, remembered His covenant with them and relented according to the abundance of His faithful love. He caused them to be pitied before all their captors.” (Psalm 106:44-46)
I want to zone in on “beaten down by their sin.” How many times have we found ourselves upside down with everything falling apart? Now honestly, how many of those times was due in part to some sin that we committed or an omission that we made. I know that I’ve failed to pay my tithes before and found myself coming up short. I’d think to myself, “How can I be short, I make more money now than…hey, I been slacking on my tithe.” I cut that check right quick honoring the principle of the tithe. Or, God has placed on my heart to do something for Him, and I didn’t thereby causing a ripple effect. My failure to act hindered His plan. To him who knows to do good, but doesn’t it is sin.
How many of us have sinned by taking a spouse or friend for granted? (The Bible says to esteem others higher than ourselves and to be kind to one another.) Then we wake up one day and they are gone. How about chasing our addiction and losing everything. What if after reading the label on a cigarette box yet still continuing to smoke, a person comes up with lung cancer. Some folks will own their sin and admit their fault but others will say, “Why am I going through this? Why is God allowing this?” The answer is clear, our sin has beaten us down.
What is the solution? According to the scripture above it is to cry out to the Lord. What does it mean to cry out? It means to repent, to change your way. Sometimes it’s difficult to repent because our sin can become part of our identity and it feels like cutting off an arm. “How will I live without ________?” That’s where faith and trust comes through. If we will just cross over that mental line and truly put our vice or sin before God, He will amazingly set us free. He is so full of love and pity for us that it is His pleasure to rescue us, even from ourselves.
PRAYER:
Lord, I surrender to You today. I ask You to forgive me for my sins and to heal me, mentally, spiritually and physically. I am believing for great changes in my life. I want to be liberated. See me through. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. |
