Keeping guard

I know falling back to sin is never an option for many of us. We can never want to imagine ourselves back to where Jesus brought us from-how it used to be. Forgetting what is behind and moving ahead, we are running to get the prize promised to us. We try to do what is right and to keep our relationship with God right by constantly praying, reading the word, maintaining a fellowship with fellow believers and trying to obey as God requires of us. However, many times we over look what seems like ‘small sins’ or rather, we fail to stay on guard against those sins. Many times we forget the power of little, just like the tiny mustard seed that grows into a huge tree. This is how those ‘little’ sins do and when they grow from small to huge, they become so difficult to uproot.

The bible in the book of Matthew 13:24-25 tells of a parable of how a man planted good seeds in his farm. However, at night, his enemy came and sowed tares/weeds and they grew with the wheat until the time of harvest. From this parable, I learnt that even as we run the race to receive the prize, it is possible for the enemy to sow sins/weeds in us ‘at night’. If we are not careful, these seeds of sin can grow and occupy the space in our lives that is meant for good things. The seeds of sin germinate and grow into strong sins with deep roots and they can take so much handwork to uproot.

These seeds can come in many forms. The bible tells us that we should get rid of anything that easily entangles us so that we can run the race (Heb 12:1-2).These can include ‘little’ envies, jealous, lust lies, gossip, self glorification, pride, little grudges etc. Although they may seem little, they can slowly grow into big things. Example, a lustful thought if not dealt with immediately can lead into adultery or fornication whose end result is great consequences. A good example is the story of David and Bathsheba in the bible.

I have learnt through the help of the Holy Spirit that to prevent such, I must stay on guard. Staying on guard means continuously reading the word of God and using it as a mirror to evaluate our lives and then getting rid of the sins that we find during our daily self evaluation. I also learn that I should keep praying everyday for God to show me those things and to uproot any and every form of evil that may be taking root in my life and heart whether at its infant or advanced stage. Reading through the bible I realize that there are many things that I do or I have done that God considers wrong. Unless in keep reading it, and asking the spirit of God to show me, I can never learn and for this reason, I might be found with blame when the Lord returns and this could cost me my prize.

I pray every day that God will help me to stay on guard, to help me use the grace He has given me to help me resist sin and to continually prune my life so that I will be found blameless when he returns. I pray the same for you and also that you may desire to grow deeper in God even as you grow in other areas of your lives.

God bless you and keep growing in Him.

Unconditional love

While we were still sinner, Christ died for us…. (Romans 5:8), this is one of the best verses I have read in my bible. It is great because it explains the unconditional love that God has for us. Christ did not require of us to stop sinning or to promise that we would stop sinning if he sacrificed himself for us, but he chose to die and take our sin so that through him showing us his love, we would be gradually transformed into sinless creature. He took our sins and thus gave us his righteousness. He loved us even in sin.

A good illustration of this verse is the story of Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha or the sinful woman as she is referred to in some bible books. The bible says (John 11) that Jesus loved Lazarus, Martha and their sister who was Mary. It says that when Jesus went to raise Lazarus, he found Mary broken and crying. At the sight of her, Jesus wept. Jesus felt so much sadness and compassion for Mary that he could not hold back his tears. This Mary was a sinful woman because reading through the bible we find that she was forgiven sometimes later after Jesus had brought Lazarus to life, when he had visited that area.

It was during that later visit, after the resurrection of Lazarus that Mary had anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and at that moment her sins had been forgiven (Mark 14). This means that all along, she had been living in sin yet Jesus had compassion for her and felt for her at her time of loss that he wept with her despite of her sinful nature. This was a true definition of unconditional love. In this case I see a God who doesn’t hate us for our sins but loves us and is there to show his love for us. He doesn’t force Himself into us but his love draws us to him.

Jesus loved us unconditionally; he did not look at how much we had sinned or the magnitude of our sins. He did not look at whether we would accept him or not, he chose to just love us. We can see that he even has compassion for us in our difficult situations even while we remained in sin. Such love is not easy to find. The bible says that the greatest kind of love is where someone chooses to give up his life for another (John 15:13) and Jesus did it. The only other love close to that that we know of is when Ephesians 5 describes how husbands should love their wives, but even that cannot be attained except through the help of Christ.

Christ loves us unconditionally and died for us to take away our guilt and shame that we may have as a result of sinning and leaves us blameless. The only way to love him back is through obeying his commands (John 14:15) and letting him be the lord over our lies. I pray that we will choose to love him always.

God bless you and keep growing in Him.