Interference

I'm sorry for being so behind.  I would say I have an excuse, but I do not.  See there, the topic of conversation today.  Sin.  The devil didn't want me to post again.  And, he succeeded.  Why do I let it happen?  Why do you let it happen?  Do you ever feel like you can’t get away from sin?  Well, so do I.  But, as John tells us in 1 John 2, there isn’t any way around it.  We’re all going to sin.  It’s inevitable.  It’s a fact of life.   I wanted to post about something completely different and that isn't where God led me. 

So, let’s talk about our relationship to sin.  Once you became a Christian, did you think you wouldn’t ever sin again?  Well, I didn’t think that I wouldn’t ever sin again, but I did think it would be easier.  Let me tell you first hand, it’s not easier.  If anything, it’s harder because that ol’ devil just wants you to cave.  And, sometimes we do.   What happens though is that our attitude toward sin changes.  We no longer love sin like we used to.  We no longer brag about those things we did the other night at that party.  We no longer even plan to go to those parties, because we just don’t enjoy them any longer.  Charles Spurgeon said of sin, “We cannot bear sin – when it is near us, we feel like a wretch chained to a rotting carcass; we groan to be free from the hateful thing.”  We just cannot stand to be around sin any longer.  1 John 2:1 says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”  

John wants us to know that there is always forgiveness for any sin we confess.  We have an “advocate”, someone who will speak up for us on our behalf.  That “advocate” is Jesus.  Verse 2 of 1 John says this:  “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  What in the world does “propitiation” mean?  I used to even struggle with how to pronounce it, much less what it meant.  Let me tell you what it means.  “Propitiation” is defined as “the action of propitiating or appeasing a god, spirit, or a person.”  For the Christian, this means that Jesus is the one that is appeasing the Father.  We’re guilty, but Jesus runs interference for us.  He is our defender.

There is so much more in this chapter.  But, these first couple of verses stood out to me for some reason.  I guess I needed the friendly reminder that Jesus is there to be my defender.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I know I am not worthy of your presence, so, I thank you so much for sending Jesus to be my defender.  Help me to recognize when I am tempted with sin and help me make the decision to avoid it at all costs.  Give me a heart where I recognize those sins and change my attitudes toward those that I don’t.  In Jesus precious name, Amen.