WORDS ON A ROCK

 I have found that it is not that hard to convince people that they have done wrong.  When the Word says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”….most don’t try to argue.  They may try to justify their actions, blame them on others, but they will pretty much admit that they have done wrong. 

 Often, people will just accept the fact that they have done wrong and “so what”.  “I’m not the only one” or “I’m not the worst” are excuses we use to lessen the guilt.

What I’d like to discuss is the various ways people try to keep themselves from committing these wrongs again.  Because after all folks, it’s one thing to be forgiven of your past sins and another totally different thing to not do those things again. 

 In another writing I have spoken of the fact that Jesus was not teasing when He said “Go and sin no more”.  So let me share a few ways we go about trying to  be righteous.

  Rules:  Thou shalt not!  On a mountain somewhere I’ve never been, in a place I’ve never seen and couldn’t point to,  God gave Moses a list of rules which someone has called The Ten Commandments. With His own finger He wrote these words on a rock and gave them to Moses.  You will not do this and you cannot do that.  If you do this will happen and if you don’t that will happen.  And so the Children of Israel and those of us who live in this century and in this place, have made valiant attempts to obey those rules.  But I just stopped by to tell you that words on a rock will not change us. You nor I can make it happen.  I contend that if those words could have been followed why would Jesus have had to come and die for me? 

It has been said somewhere that “the law is like a mirror”.  When you wake in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror you can clearly see that your face needs washing and your hair needs attention.  But none of you will take the mirror off the wall and try to wash your face with it. No one is foolish enough to try and comb his hair with a mirror.

So it is with the law.  It shows us where we have failed and where we are wrong but the words on that rock cannot make us righteous. 

Rituals:  Others will put on the robe of “rituals” in order to be righteous.  I’ll read my Bible, I’ll pray three times a day, I’ll go to church on Sunday and Sunday night and Wednesday night.  We make these attempts.  We will do good and perhaps the bad will go away.  We will put ourselves in the right positions and just maybe we won’t be tempted and fail. But rituals, no matter how religiously preformed will not free us from the chains of sin.   

 Regulate:  I’ll do whatever it takes Dear Lord.  What do you want me to do? I’ll make it happen.  I’ll regulate the thoughts I think, the words I say, the acts I commit and then sin will be overcome and I will win.  I don’t have to tell you that doesn’t work do I?  My strength is not a challenge to Satan.  My plans are not a contest for him.  My attempts are not a match for his power. 

So how is sin overcome in our lives? How can I obey the command of Jesus and “go and sin no more”?  What can I do to follow the instructions in Romans 6:6 that tell me that from “henceforth we should not serve sin”?

I firmly believe that much of our misunderstanding concerning this topic comes from our definition of “sin”.  Some feel that sin is anything that is out of the center of God’s will.  While others believe that in order for sin to be sin it must be premeditated, intentional, knowingly committed.  Perhaps that is a topic for another place and time.

In Zachariah 4:6 we are told that it is; “Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit, saith the Lord”.  All the effort I can put into living for God will not free me.  All of the hoops that I jump through will not save me.  All the words that are written even though they are written on a stone…will not deliver me. 

I think then it is only when I commit my all to Him, when I turn loose and fall into the arms of mercy and grace that I will be able to live as God intended for me to live.  Instead of simply using all of my might, and obeying all the rule, regulation, and rituals I release my situation into His hands.  It is then that I am not only made free from the guilt of sin but also made free from the power of sin.