Friday October 30th, 2020
Memorize: Hebrews 12:1 New Heart English Bible (NHEB)
« Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us »
Read: 1 John 3:4-10 New Living Translations (NLT)
4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
Message:
God wants His children to be aware of the several roadblocks on their journey to the promised land.
Chief among these is the devil. He puts obstacles in our path so we can reject the ways of the Lord (1 Peter 5:7-9). He uses sin as a weapon of destruction knowing fully well that no unclean thing shall enter into the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27).
Seeing these obvious threats to the success of our pilgrimage, God always provides an escapes route for us (1 Corinthians 10:13)
In today’s Bible reading, John describes sin as a transgression of the law.
It is definitely not a Christian virtue. As a matter of fact, sinners belong to the devil because he has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8).
The whole duty of Satan is to lure people into disobedience against God, thus truncating their journey to eternal life. He told Adam and Eve that eating the forbidding fruit would not affect their relationship with God.
Eventually, they were sent from the blissful Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Today, he has introduced the concept of ‘non-essentials’ to the Christian faith.
For instance, the devil convinces people that a sip of alcohol once in a while does not matter; and that premarital sex is not bad as long as the couple would eventually marry each other, without regard for Hebrews 13:4! What about lies? Many ‘Christians’ now lie with impunity and it is termed ‘white’ lies.
These are very little foxes that destroy the vine of faith. This is a timely warning for Christian pilgrims to guard against seemingly insignificant habits that can exclude one from the hope of eternal life.
May the Lord grant us the grace to run with patience and race that is set before us.
Action point: Examine your life for socially acceptable behaviors that are not Christ-like. They could deny you of eternal life ultimately. Do away with them all immediately.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
Sharing is caring, kindly distribute this devotion, and the Lord will bless you for it.
Thank you for being a blessing to me by clicking on the heart.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to Coping Words.
