We wouldn’t think of speeding past a policeman on the highway. It’s not done. The officer has the power to arrest us and make us regret ignoring the law. He does it for a good reason. If we choose to live outside the law, everyone suffers.
Our best example? The Mexican drug cartels. They try to make up their own rules, do it “their own way,” and thousands of innocents suffer every day.
Or the Taliban. According to Melissa Chan at www.time.com, the Taliban claimed responsibility for gunning down a 10-year-old boy on February 1, 2016, as he stepped outside of his home to buy vegetables for his family’s meal. He was shot twice in the head by a man on a motorcycle.
The Taliban lives outside the law. To them, lawlessness is the way to go. What I want, when I want, and how I want. No one else matters.
We cry foul, but how do we behave towards God?
What? Us? No way, we cry. We’re not like that.
1 John 3:4 tells us:
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”
The last time we drove down the highway, what was our speed? Did it make a difference that no policemen were present? How about that stop sign, or that yellow light? The word tells us that sin is sin, and sin is lawlessness.
Ouch, but this is hitting close to home.
John exhorts us with, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning…” God ups the ante even more in the following verses.
Luke 13:27 says:
“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ”
Matthew 7:23 reiterates:
“And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ”
Jeremiah 2:22 leaves no room for doubt:
“Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.”
Where is our turn-around point? In Jesus, of course. In him, all our sins are washed away. Isaiah 53:6 assures us:
“…The Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all.”
We know we truly live for Christ when we follow the precepts in his Word even when the preacher’s not watching, there are no church members nearby, and we’re sure we can get away with it. If we walk away from sin in those circumstances, then we can take Proverbs 10:29 to heart.
“The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.”
Our strength comes in our Lord. He is our rock and strong tower. He will lead us in the way of righteousness, and we will dwell with him forever.
Actually living for Christ means a lot more than simply saying we do.
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