Who Is In Charge Of Your Life?

Who is in charge? We have this great illusion of freedom but we aren't truly free. We can't do whatever we want. There are laws that we must follow. Beyond that there are all the government regulations. I can't just open a business wherever I want to sell whatever I want. There are zoning regulations, permits, permissions and approvals that need to be sought. I can't build whatever house I want wherever I want. I can't even really say whatever I want to say, as much as we say we have free speech. Free speech, within reason, we say. We are accountable for everything we say and do, and often the things we want to do are not permitted. This same lack of freedom also exists spiritually.

In many ways we are enslaved spiritually whether it is to sin or to the righteousness of Jesus. The Spirit explained through Paul:

Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, that you are slaves of the one whom you obey? That’s true whether you serve as slaves of sin, which leads to death, or as slaves of the kind of obedience that leads to righteousness. (Romans 6:16)

Now if we have voluntarily and willingly submitted ourselves in obedience to Jesus then we know that we no longer own our lives. Our longing is the will of Father so then we should not expect that anything happens by chance or that anything is meant to destroy us. The Word tells us that he uses everything for our benefit. How Yahweh works is seen in the life of Joseph.

Joseph had it bad. His brothers were jealous so got rid of him by selling him. He ended up a slave in Egypt and eventually an imprisoned slave. He had every right to think his life had gone off the rails but he stayed faithful and believing. He soon found himself in the courts of the king and soon responsible for the country. When he was re-united with the brothers who had sold him Joseph was able to say in truth:

God sent me before you to make sure you’d survive and to rescue your lives in this amazing way. You didn’t send me here; it was God who made me a father to Pharaoh, master of his entire household, and ruler of the whole land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:7-8)

"You didn't send me here; it was God." Who's in charge of your life? You? Your boss? Circumstances? Or are you willing to see how Yahweh is using you to bring about his will in the lives of others? Are you willing to see the challenges in your life as Yahweh's way of positioning you for his plan? Are you willing to continue serving with all your passion regardless where and to whom he sends you? Who is in charge in your life?

The Trap Of The Religious Tomb

The problem occurs when we move from a daily relationship to family traditions. It is frustrating when people think that Christianity is just something you are born into, a family tradition. We are not Christian because it is something a distant ancestor claimed. We are not Christian because our parents told us we are. We aren't even Christian because we go to church on Christmas and Easter. We are Christian when we are convicted about our rebellion against Yahweh, make the decision to confess our sins, ask for forgiveness, accept it, and then give up our life to follow Jesus. It is a personal decision.

Much of the Christian "world" is trapped in religious thinking, not understanding what it is they believe. They know more the traditions of their church than they do the Word of God. Many more of us are there than we think. Any time we put the the traditions and good works of our church ahead of the Word we are already falling into the trap of religion. While dealing with some religious leaders Jesus said:

"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain the worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of me.'" (Mark 7:6-7)

It is frustrating to see what we are making of it when Jesus paid the price for us to have the most incredible relationship of all eternity. He has ushered us into an age of grace and freedom, breaking all bondage that kept us from enjoying this relationship with him. So many have been freed from their bonds of sin but instead of receiving that freedom they added to it with the shackles of religion. But on the other hand, we have those who have taken that freedom and grace and have used it as a license to sin:

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedienceleading to righteousness? (Romans 6:14-16)

It really isn`t as complicated as it seems. The first of the great commandments: Love Yahweh with your entire being. The thing to note about this love: Jesus defined it as obedience. So, Father demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us. We in turn demonstrate our love to him by obedience. It is a daily relationship not a religious tomb. Relationship takes effort and time so spend time with the lover of your soul today and every day, and get to know him by knowing the Word of God.

Must We Sin?

Do we have to sin?

That depends if you are speaking of sins we are aware of or things we do that offend God of which we are not aware. Praise our Lord Jesus Christ that his grace covers all things we are blissfully unaware of so the question then is, are we able to avoid sins we do on purpose. The answer to that is, yes.

People mistakenly misuse the scripture where Paul stated what his struggle was with sin before accepting Jesus:

I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. And so, if I don’t do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them. (Romans 7:18-20)

Paul is describing what it is to be a slave to sin, the sin that is revealed by the perfect Law of God. But earlier Paul also wrote:

Don’t you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you obeyed the teaching you received from me. Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God. (Romans 6:16-18)

So why is it that so often we fall back into sin? Why is it that we end up so weak? For the answer to that I think we need to consider king David.

In some ways this is comparing apples and oranges because we are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit and David was not. God applied a lot of grace to David in the same way he did to Abraham but today we live in a constant state of grace because of the blood of Jesus. However, there are certain behaviours that are similar that still get us in trouble.

The big difference between David and us is that David had no choice in his sin; he was a slave to it. His best chance was to avoid situations that would cause him to fall. As he stood on the roof top looking down on a bathing Bathsheba, David was a slave to his desires, but he shouldn't have been there. When you read the scriptures you discover that it was the time when kings went off to war, but David was not where he was suppose to be. He sent off his army and he stayed home, bored. Boredom is never a good thing. If David had been fulfilling his duties he would never have sinned and an innocent man would not have had to die.

Too often we decide to sin because we are not where we are suppose to be. And yes, I chose the word "decide"on purpose. In this age of grace, with the indwelling of the Spirit and the broken bonds of sin, we have to make a conscience decision to sin. We know what we are doing and decide to do it any way. It is not as Paul described what it was like before Jesus. We know him, have been freed by him, have the ability to decide for ourselves and are strengthened by the Spirit to do the right thing.

If we are where we are suppose to be in the Spirit, doing what we have been called to do, serving our Lord Jesus, then no temptation could ever overwhelm us. There is no reason why we must give in to sin, but we can make the decision to do it. When we are weak in our relationship temptation is strong. When we are strong in our relationship, temptation is weak.

Are we where we are suppose to be? Are we bored? Are we lending power to temptations? Then turn back as quickly as you can to Jesus. Who the Son has set free is free indeed.