02/07/2008
Romans 6:12 - 14 (HCSB)
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
When persons are paroled from prison, they are sometimes given restrictions regarding with whom they may associate. The idea is that if the parolee returns to old haunts or begins to associate with persons of suspicious reputation, they may again soon fall back into habits and actions that return them to prison. The parolee should find new friends, new places to hang out – in essence to establish a new life with a fresh and lawful course.
This is also true to us as Christians. Our baptism (the word literally means emersion) represents our death to an old life – being buried as it were. Sin required death so in baptism, we let our old life die. When we are raised back up, this represents a new life that has been freed from the penalty of sin.
Since we have this new life, we should take the opportunity to live life as Godly as we can. While living Godly does not earn salvation for us, we should understand that when God pardons our sin completely, we should obligate ourselves to Him out of gratitude.
If Ed McMahan handed you that fabled check for ten-million dollars, could you simply turn away with no more than a “thank you” and go on as if you had received nothing? How much more should our excitement, joy, and gratitude be towards God who has given us so much more.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
Terms of Usage: This devotional may be copied or forwarded for personal use without permission, but must include the author, publisher, web link, and copyright notice. Use in another published work must obtain permission first.