21 MAR 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Romans 7:18-19
In the early days of Jesus’ ministry, he made a salty statement about human nature. “Jesus didn’t trust people because he knew all about mankind. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.” (Jn 2:24-25) As followers of Christ, we need to be taught the true reality of human nature and the natural disposition of the heart.
Ask a person at work, are people naturally good or bad/evil? I bet the response you get is good. We like to think that we are good people, but Jesus even said there is no one good but God. The good we try to do is like menstrual rags to him. (Isa. 64:6) We gloss over the evil we do and call it bad or mistakes, but the truth is, we are evil at heart.
Paul takes time to explain our nature to the church in Rome and describes our condition as being slaves to sin. We may desire to do the right thing or do good, but we do the bad. It is our first nature, not our second. As Paul shares his struggles with his own nature, it makes him very upset and cries out, Who can save me from this body of sin and death? The answer is Jesus.
When we become a Christian, we are given a new nature and sin’s hold on us is broken. We now are able to live a life pleasing to God. That doesn’t mean we will not still struggle with sin, but sin will not dominate our life and desires either. We now can fight it and win!
Are you struggling with or being dominated by sin?
Reading Plan: Psalm 97, 99; Jer. 17:19-27; Rom. 7:13-25; John 6:16-27
No comments:
Post a Comment