The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of August 14
We are called to be obedient, and that’s not always easy.
As sinners, we have desires of the flesh and habits that are not always God-honoring. We tend to make our own rules and assume our authority is the best for our lives. So often we ignore God’s word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance because we want to pilot our own stories.
God wants us to follow Him, not because He needs us to, but because He loves us. Our hearts and minds matter a great deal to our Father and He wants us to be free of our sin in heaven. In Romans 6, Paul reminds us that Jesus died for our sins and our debt is paid.
In verse 12 Paul says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” Paul is urging us to not allow sin the power to rule our minds and bodies. We have a God who is full of love and grace and welcomes us with open arms despite our sinful nature.
Although verse 14 says that we are not under the law but under grace, that doesn’t give us a pass to sin as we please. This verse tells us that we no longer have to endure the penalty of the law, which is death. God sent Jesus to pay for our sins and He does this because of grace. We didn’t do anything to earn his grace, but God gives it anyway because He loves us unconditionally.
When we obey God, we experience the abundance of His grace. We are being transformed when we are obedient, even when we don’t see or feel Him working in our lives.