Corona Devo 2082

The other day I was repairing a wooden statue with some super glue. Super glue is dangerous! But I was very careful, and I took my time and great care to glue both broken pieces back on, and viola! It looked great. I hadn't dripped any glue anywhere, and I breathed a sigh of relief, because the statue looked good and I didn't have any superglue mishaps.

I rested in the satisfaction of both of these things for a moment, as I admired the glued and repaired project.

But when I brought my attention back to real life, I screamed! My fingers were glued together!

For a moment, I (completely) panicked as I tried to separate the stuck-fingers and pictured what life would be like with a conjoined middle and ring finger.

And then...they gave way, and separated. Freedom! Thank You, Lord!

~~~

Sin is like that.

Sometimes, like wet superglue, we can slide so easily into sin that it doesn't even feel like sin. We don't notice...or if we do, it is not in monumental ways, and so we don't pay heed, or sometimes even recognize the perils of it.

And so...we enter into sin.

• for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...  ~Romans 3:23

• We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  ~Isaiah 53:6

And then, like invisible superglue that dries...we get locked into a place...a sinful place, that we don't want to be in.  

We're stuck.  Stuck in sin.  Stuck in shame.  Stuck in isolation.  Stuck.  Stuck in sin.  

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (16) And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. (17) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. (18) For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (19) For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. (20) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  ~Romans 7:15-20

And--like the realization that two fingers have been glued together--our spirit screams when we are in sin.  We know inherently, and emotionally, and spiritually that we are not where we should be in relation to God's call on our life.  We know something's wrong, and there can come a point when the sin of this scares us.  Jars us.  Possibly makes us scream...or cry...or pray.

I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.  ~Psalm 120:1

I remember being stuck in sin years ago.  I wanted to do better, but I couldn't get out.  I kept returning to it.  And on one occasion, (I can still picture the room, the people, even the time of day)...although life appeared normal to everyone else, without notice, I burst out into tears and sobbing.  It was (seemingly) involuntary, but my soul knew that it was necessary.  The sin grated against everything that God had created me to be and there was a war being waged...and my soul wanted out of the revolving sin-carousel that I kept riding.   

It was the same type of moment as when I realized my fingers were glued together.  Shock!  Fear!  Panic!  Dread.

And then...the fingers came unglued.  
And then...I left that sin....forever.

Relief.  Gratitude.  Freedom.  Restoration.  

All of these (and much more) are the gifts that God has for each of us if we will be willing to leave our sin and cleave to our Savior.  

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  ~Isaiah 1:18

Do we feel like what we've done (are doing) is too bad for God to forgive?  

Are we too ashamed to show our face to the Holy One?

Have we barricaded ourselves behind a wall of guilt and worthlessness?

Listen to what God says about us (His children), today...and believe that what He says about us is true.  (It is, because He says it is.)

• The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  ~Zephaniah 3:17  

• The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.  ~Jeremiah 31:3 

• There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (19) We love because he first loved us.  ~I John 4:18-19

And then...sin gives way. We can become separated from it by the power of Christ.

Freedom! Thank You, Lord!

~~~

Is there a sin that we have slid into? Not purposely. Not wickedly. Almost imperceptibly. We didn't pay heed, or even recognize the perils of it.

And maybe we're stuck.

Don't stay stuck in sin today. Scream for help. Cry out. Cry. Sob.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (11) Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. (12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  ~Psalm 51:10-12

Jesus will release us.

It's what He does. It's what He was born...to die to do.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (7) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. (8) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ~Romans 5:6-8  

~~~

Our Lord is in the business of repairing broken things: us.

He can do it.  And He will. 

Cry out to Him today.  He (and only He) will get us unstuck from our sin, and freedom is on the other side.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  ~Romans 8:2

Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com