Romans 6:16 – “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

Each of us is under control.  Every day we make decisions about what we will allow to influence and lead us.  Without the Holy Spirit, we are in bondage to sin – we would never know the joy of a reconciled relationship with God, and continually would pursue happiness apart from him – the lie that leads to death.  Have you ever considered what it means for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you continually (and forever).  If not, I’d encourage you to stop here for a moment – dwell on that.  The fullness of God, in all His infinite might, power, divine nature, is in you.  Sin is in you too, and it’s a big deal – it cost Jesus very much.

These two – Sin and the Spirit are at war within you, and each of us decides day to day, moment to moment, which side we’re going ally ourselves to.  Both will control us, sin will produce addiction and separation from God, the Spirit knows everything in your future and wants to work perfectly to give you peace and joy in drawing you closer to God.  Sometimes it’s helpful to do some self-assessment to know where we stand.  Do you meet with God in the morning over prayer/His Word or do you sleep in… again.  Do you meet up with a Christian brother or sister to encourage them, or do you put yourself in front of the latest TV “reality” show.  Do you intentionally make war on sin?  Or do you have areas of your life that you have not turned over to God?  Do you arm yourself day by day with God’s Word?  Or do you try to see “how far” you can go without falling into sin.  Each of us can ask ourselves these questions, and we all will fail in some areas.  God is not demanding our perfection, but to keep submitting to His leading – to keep running the race.

My heart’s desire is that we all will continue to encourage one another to present ourselves to the leading of God by the Spirit.  This is the Spirit not of bondage, like sin, but of freedom, to a fullness of joy in enjoying God.  May God bless you and keep you today, may we all present and submit ourselves to the Spirit’s leading, knowing that only in Him do we find life, and may we all finish the race well.

Grace and Peace,
Adam