Romans 8:1-4
If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t
be punished. The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ
Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. The Law of Moses cannot
do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you
free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a
sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ’s body to condemn sin. He did
this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit
instead of our own desires.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I
heard some talk show hosts debating the pros and cons of “cheat
days”…days when people who are working hard to lose weight and get fit
are allowed to “cheat” and eat whatever they want for just that one
day. Usually, this is only permitted once a week…and some fitness
“experts” say it helps people stay on track and feel like they are not
missing out on the foods they love. Others say it makes no sense – that
people are not “wired” to stop with just a small sampling of these
“forbidden” foods and will often consume so many calories in this day of
cheating that they negate all of their efforts throughout the rest of
the week. Either way, this “cheat day” represents the human inability of
most of us to maintain a rigid regimen of some sort for an extended
period of time…much less forever!
I share this to illustrate
that a lot of us have the best of intentions. We are determined to lose
weight, stop smoking or some other addictive habit, keep our
house/car/yard/workspace neater, spend more time in Bible study, visit
friends and loved ones more often, read 100 books or more a year, watch
less TV, and achieve countless other goals and aspirations. And we
start out great…for a day – or maybe even a few weeks. Then we start to
falter. One slip here…another there…one missed workout this week,
followed by two next week…a television show or two…you know the drill!
Pretty soon, we have an arsenal of excuses for why we failed - and an
equal number of vows to do better – until we often give up and decide to
just “be who we are” and suffer the consequences...even at the risk of
death and personal danger to our health and well-being.
As
serious as this can be (depending on what we are talking about ) it
cannot compare to the severity of our attitude in this regard when it
comes to sin. In these verses from Romans 8, the Apostle Paul points
out why we cannot be trusted to handle our own atonement for sin. He
clearly illustrates that our selfish desires – and our tons of excuses –
make it impossible for God to merely set down His Law and expect us to
follow it! So God sent Jesus to stand in the gap…to do what we could
not…to pay for our sins once and for all.
Understand that this is
not a license to live as we please. We cannot ask Jesus to die for our
sins and then make every day a “cheat day.” But because of Jesus, we
do not have to worry that God will renege on His promise to write our
name in the Lamb’s Book of Life and give us a seat at His table for all
Eternity when we make a misstep.
If we confess our sins and ask
forgiveness, Jesus will wash us clean with His own blood. He took our
punishment on the cross. We do not have to live in fear or the constant
dread that we are going to fail in some way. We are freed to live in
His abundance…to do our very best every day because we want to
honor and please Him – not because we are afraid to do otherwise. I
don’t know about you, but this seems like a far superior plan to trying
to follow God’s Law on my own – or even a “cheat day.” I may not have
any willpower when it comes to diet and a consistent exercise routine,
keeping clutter at bay, and other habits and behaviors I would like to
change. But when it comes to Jesus, He has my heart – and my back – and
it doesn’t get any better! Can you say the same for yourself?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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