Obedience 6
I like Paul. I think he would fit right into our culture today. I also appreciate his sarcasm and sense of humor in his writings. I can imagine what he'd be like as a guest speaker at our youth group ... "since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning?" ... lots of blanks stares and a few heads would probably nod "yes" ... then Paul would yell "OF COURSE NOT! Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?!"
I know that I need this kind of in my face language at times. Other wise I would zone out. Things wouldn't really hit home with me. Paul makes it black and white; puts it in the simplest form. Obey sin and die or obey God and live righteous. That's the choice.
I also want to point out that he doesn't just say obey God and "live" period. It's qualified with living a "righteous" life! I think that there's definitely a correlation between being obedient to God and living righteously.
God, give me a hatred for sin in my life. Help me to see that when I sin and when I'm tempted to sin that I'm allowing myself to be trapped in slavery. Allow me to grow in my obedience to you that I would continue growing in righteousness, that as people look at my life they will see less and less of me and more and more of you!
Created about 1 year ago
