Freely Choosing Obedience

~~~ Romans 6:12-18 ~~~ Psalm 124 ~~~ Luke 12:39-48 ~~~

 

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart...
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

Historically we know that the practice of keeping slaves

 has been around for centuries.

Slave...a person who is the legal property of someone and is forced to obey.

Slaves were usually held against their will and worked excessively.

 

Recently there have been movies made about

the realities of slavery in our country...

"12 Years a Slave" being the most recent, which you may not

 even know is in theaters. It is to be released in most cities on November 1.

While this is not a blog about such topics it is important to note

 that slavery does still exist in our world today.

 

No matter what you feel about slavery, Paul speaks of it

in his letter to the Romans.

They could understand the concept of slavery

Paul, however, is turning the concept of slavery upside down.

 

Paul says what if...you present yourselves as obedient salves?

If we present ourselves as slaves, obedient to the truth

the reality shifts.

We have two choices...we can either be slaves

 of sin or obedient to God.

When we look back at our lives

where do we find the greatest presence of God?

 

God is most evident in our lives when we choose

to walk in righteousness with him.

We can choose to be a 'slave' to God's holy way.

 

Being in the clutches of sin is much like being owned as a slave.

The longer you stay in sin the more the sin holds on to your soul.

The sin begins to fool you into believing

that you have no choice.

 

We always have the choice to escape from our sinfulness.

Jesus paid the price to set us free...he died for that reason.

Jesus was brutally and publically abused so that we

could be free from the slavery of sin.

 

How can we be anything but grateful?

 

 

Grateful because we have been given the gift of grace to helps us.

We can be obedient to the call of holiness and avoid sin.

We must be vigilant, sin surrounds us on all sides.

Sin often disguises itself as greater freedom,

but it makes you a slave unto itself.

 

We are presented with good and evil every day.

Every day we must once again make our firm

commitment to take the path of the good.

It will be a challenge at times, but the end is so much better.

 

A freed slave is eternally grateful to the owner.

I would freely choose to be a slave for Christ,

but that is not how he wants us

to define our relationship with him.

Our relationship with God is one of loving freedom.

 

Blessings come in freely being obedient to God.

Praying for his protection from sin.

Praying for the grace to resist the temptation of sin.