To read the scripture for today's devotional from Romans 7, click here: Romans 7
There’s an old joke about a gentleman who goes to the
doctor. “Doc, everytime I push on the sides of my temples with my fingers I get
a headache. Can you help me?”
“Sure, the doctor says. “Quit pushing on the side of your
temples with your fingers.”
It sounds overly simplistic to stop doing something that is
hurting you, but the reality of life is that sometimes we do exactly that.
Take addictions, for example. Smoking, overeating, drugs,
pornography, alcohol are just a few of the addictions with which people
struggle. It’s not that the people addicted to those things don’t know they are
bad for them, but yet they keep doing them anyway.
Paul writes about something similar in Romans 7. Paul is
talking about sin, though, when he writes, “I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” (v.
15)
Paul writes about the struggle between doing what is right
(righteousness) and doing what is wrong (sin). Such a struggle has been
depicted in cartoons and movies as a person having a small devil on one
shoulder and an angel on the other, with both telling the person what to do.
When we become followers of Jesus Christ it doesn’t mean
that the devil quits whispering to us. In fact, he usually starts talking
louder. And yet through the power of the Holy Spirit we can resist temptation
and do what is right.
As it says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
Prayer: God forgive us when we do the things we don’t want
to do. Grant us the power of the Holy Spirit to resist temptations in whatever
forms they present themselves. Give us strength to live Godly lives as we seek
to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment