10.08.07
“LIFE OR DEATH?”
Romans 6:20-23
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
About five years ago Joyce and I were driving along a fairly well traveled street in our area. There was a young man who looked to be in his twenties on the sidewalk. He had a sign begging for money. We both remarked about his appearance. He was clean shaven and well dressed.
From time to time I have noticed the same young man begging in the same area. Gradually I noticed a change in his appearance. His clean looks changed to unkempt and shabby. His hair which had once been clean and combed was now just a dirty mass.
Today I was traveling through that same area. I was startled to see a man begging who appeared to be in his forties of fifties. As I looked closer, I saw that it was the same man!
Recently I saw a television program on jails. A man who had been arrested for possession and use of drugs was being processed. The clerk who was booking the man commented that he had been arrested for the same offense numerous times.
She told the man that she wanted to show him something. She printed out pictures of each time he had been booked into the jail. She showed him ten or eleven pictures that spanned only a few years. It was astonishing how the man had deteriorated in his appearance in such a short time.
The last portion of today’s Scripture clearly teaches that sin has a terrible consequence—death! That death may come quickly as a result of sin, or it may be a tragic deterioration of a once healthy body.
Thank God there is a bright promise! Sin leads to death, but look what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us in the way of promise: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
That is such a precious promise that is the result of receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. It is not promised as a result of our being good or doing something special, it is because we have been redeemed from slavery and death by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. He died that we might live! Magnificent! If that doesn’t light your fire, your wood is wet! “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
- - - Pastor Cecil