lystn

Proverbs 1:10 NLT

'My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them!'

While I might like to have you believe I am a man of honour, it would be a lie. Not that I don’t want to serve with integrity and make a constructive contribution as a human being, it’s just that I know myself too well.

Now, we have my mum living with us. I like the picture this may present as the dutiful son providing a safe and homely environment for her. Yet, those little irritations I’d forgotten after leaving home for university appear to have multiplied exponentially. What looks like the loving welcome of a devoted son is in fact a series of well-managed emotions ‘behind closed doors’. This takes nothing away from the love I have for mum, yet describes the reality and challenge of living together. I assume she probably feels much the same way, having given up her independence due to the onset of age and arthritis.

Sin is always present and seeks to entice. It appears to offer advantage or pleasure and the inducement overrides all resistance. God’s invitation is that I deal with my frustrations arising from caring for Mum, rather than let them spill over and then offload them onto her. I want to blame someone for my annoyances, when I have yielded to the enticements of the principalities and powers that mistakenly believe they are in charge. Discovering that Jesus on the cross defeated all such powers was a great release. It’s not just me that is being saved, but I am also empowered to live saved, that is, free to live the God-life unhindered.

Of course, I’m fractured so I resort to default and that is the disobedient sinner. When pressed, I remove my gaze from Jesus. Following, for me, demands paying close attention and sticking close to my Master. I acknowledge weakness, address the frailty and engage whatever help, advice or support that’s required. This can prove tricky, for it demands honesty, openly admitting sinful behaviours and patterns to another. Yet, this is the very meaning of living beyond the shadows in the full light of God’s grace.

QUESTION: How open and honest with God and yourself are you?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, may my gaze be on you, the author and perfecter of my faith.