All Knowing God, why does Your Word say that by the death of Your Son I have been set free from sin, but my life does not seem to reflect that freedom? I find myself committing the same sins over and over and I feel like the Devil is playing with me like a cat does with a wounded mouse. I want to be better for You but my life is filled with stumbles into the same old holes. I know that the door that is holding me in has been unlocked but I look upon it as though it is still locked. I am held captive by my own feelings of guilt, unworthiness, and weakness. Instead of getting up boldly and pushing the door wide open to walk away in freedom, I sit paralyzed and remain unchanged. In my mind, I believe what Your Word says, but something holds me back. Being set free is like being in a war to win my freedom and I (as a participant) must be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to win it.
If You died as a ransom for my freedom and I choose not to walk in it, don’t I put Your sacrifice to naught? Since You, as God are a free spirit, Your desire is for me (Your creation) to be a free spirit like You. How can I let such a love-filled gift go unclaimed? Your intent was never to set me free to do my own thing, but to free me to live more fully for You. What has happened is that I have turned over my gift to the enemy. In granting me freedom, You released me from the power of sin and given me a way to choose to do Your will. To become more like You, I must be willing to engage in a struggle to make You King and Lord of my life and resist being held as a captive of sin. Somehow, my desire is to do what I want to do more than choose to become more like You. The worn-out tracks of my life become easier to walk through than to travel new paths that take me to freedom and release me from the hold of sin.
Your Word encourages me to “renew my mind” because it is where “choices” are made. The freedom that You give empowers me to stand on firm ground in choosing between good and evil and righteous or unrighteous living. Enemies of my good choices are ego and materialism … both wanting what they want and not what You want. I was created in Your image, and through Your Son, I was given access to that same freedom which sin has stolen from me. Because of my fallen nature, I find it easier to follow the path of sin rather than righteousness. Without Your intervention, I was deprived of the ability to overcome sin and walk in freedom. Through my “new life”, the bondage of sin has been destroyed and I have been “set free” to choose righteously. Just like I choose to exercise the gift of voting, I can choose to walk in freedom if I can learn to cooperate with You. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Romans 7:21-25 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of sin. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!