Hi
I’m torn with regard to my personal response to the various terrifying activities around the world. For, on the one hand, I’d like to condemn the wrongdoers (they ought to die, hang etc); but on the other, I know that’s not what Christ desires. Consider today’s Holy Nougat™
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.
John 8:34-35 NLT
No one desires slavery. No matter what anyone else would rather say or justify. Unfortunately, not everyone has the strength or inclination to fight for freedom. And therein lies the root of the trouble.
Memory patterns are not exact. Humanity is not always willing to remember our own past before we cast judgement upon the other. We forget that we also were once slaves. We forget that even when the enslaved SEEMS like a member of the family, they cannot be expected to think or act like a family member.
So one who is still a slave to sin is not always going to react to life situations the way one who has been saved by grace has been. But we are not obliged to condemn the person who remains bound by sins dread hold. We are obliged to pray for them, remembering that in God’s eyes Sin is offensive, redeemable only by Christ’s shed Blood. Not ours. We also remember that we were also sinners, it’s by grace that we have been saved.
So we celebrate our status as heirs, thanks to Jesus; but we crave the transformation/adoption of those others and commit to praying for them. Not from a position of privilege; but with humble recall.
When last have we consciously prayed for someone’s release from sin’s enslavement?
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
Nicqi Ashwood (Rev)
