By David ReayWednesday 1 Jun 2022LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (THE MESSAGE)
We can easily believe that the world is divided between the “goodies” and the “baddies”. On one side are those who are good hearted and who resist evil. On the other side are those who are power hungry tyrants out to further their own ends. Such a belief is a dangerous delusion. It often places us amongst the good guys. Or with some personalities, it places us rather sadly amongst the evil doers.
The Bible suggests otherwise. We are capable of both good and evil. We are neither evil monster or perfected saints. Our faith in Jesus does not grant us immunity from doing things which displease him. And yet our wrongdoing doesn’t put us out of reach of his grace.
The Russian writer, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, puts it eloquently: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains … an unuprooted small corner of evil.”
So, we both humbly admit our many sins, and yet boldly embrace our one and only Saviour.
Blessings,
David