4-17-2015

Good Morning All!!

          Romans 6:15; “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”

       A couple of summers ago, gas was somewhere between $4.50 and $5.00 around here.  It might have been higher where you live.  Today we are at about $2.30 and that is after a 6cent tax hike.  It was down to just over $2.00 for a short while this past winter.  What a difference a couple of years make!  It cost less than half as much to fill your gas tank this past winter as it did two summers ago.  Yet I didn’t see anyone yelling, “Woohoo gas is so cheap!”  I didn’t see anyone take the gas nozzle from their tank and just pour the gasoline on the ground.  “It is so cheap we might as well just let it run on the ground so I get my reward points from the gas station.  Gas is practically given to us.”  I don’t remember hearing that comment ever made. 

    It might be that some of you remember $1.00 gas or even 50 cents gas.  Maybe you remember 25 cent gas and the occasional “gas war” that made it even cheaper.  If you remember that, even $2.00 is expensive and that is what we understand.  Even at $2.00 it is expensive and it is wasteful to just let it run on the ground.  It is still an expensive and precious commodity, no matter what the price.

    God’s grace can be seen in the same fashion.  It is very precious and cost God a lot.  Jesus, the Son of God, suffered greatly for that grace.  He died so that our sins would be paid for.  It is free to us but is still very expensive.  So we don’t want to waste it.  Just as we would never take a gift from someone and purposely destroy it; we should not destroy God’s grace by sinning.  There are many who think that, since their sins are forgiven, it really doesn’t matter if we sin or not.  Here we see Paul’s answer: By no means!  We are dead to sin; sin was drowned in our Baptism.  We are a new creation, desiring what God’s Spirit leads us toward and that is doing our Father’s will.

    Many feel that since our sins are forgiven; sins bear no consequence; they do not matter anymore.  Yet sin still does the same thing it always has; it causes pain.  Sins against God cause us to look away from Him and to focus on ourselves.  Sin causes us to harm those around us especially those whom we claim to love.  Sin still hurts.  It hurts those around us; it hurts us and it hurts our relationship with God.  It wastes precious love and mercy; love and mercy which we should be sharing with others in need.

   We don’t continue to sin because we love God and our neighbors. Our desire is to serve and to love; that is what a Christian desires; that is what a redeemed child of God seeks.  We still lapse into sin but we do not desire it or want to wallow in it like the unbeliever does.  We do not desire sin because our desire is God’s favor.

Father, lead me to follow your will more closely.  Lead me to love You and those around me.  Give me your wisdom to do your will.  Give me the strength to withstand the temptations of this life.  Free me from the body of sin.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen savior and King we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret