Censor or Celebrate:
Cookies and a Cow
“I, even I, am
He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins
no more.”
Isaiah 43:25
I confess that I’m a sneaky thief. I
love cookies and as a girl I learned how to get as many as I wanted. Mom
regularly baked cookies for the family and the house rule was, “you may have two
cookies a day.” I couldn’t get my mind off of cookies. I wanted more than
two.
A painted ceramic cow, with a separate
lid for its back, kept the cookies safe. However, when no one was nearby, I
learned how to lift the cookie jar lid, remove cookies, and replace the top
without a clink.
Sin is like the rule about cookies. If there
hadn’t been a limit I may not have been enticed to sneak extras. Rules expose
our passions to live the way we want and then serve to point us to Christ, our
Savior (Romans 8:3).
It’s become a sin to talk about sin.
The word sin is conveniently shunned. Even devoted Christ followers hesitate to
mention the “s” word. Imagine if we removed sin completely from our
vocabularies. The word Savior would also be removed. Is it possible that this is
the direction we are headed?
Sin, in the Bible, is compared to “a
competitor who thwarts a racer in every direction.” The nature of sin is like an
invisible tug-of-war. We love it one minute and pull it close to our hearts. We
hate it the next moment and try to run from it.
We sin but we are no longer slaves to
our old sin nature. Sin no longer has power over us. We don’t have to sin anymore. Isn’t
that freeing news?
God’s grace allows us to see and admit
our sin in a way that doesn’t condemn or destroy us. Knowing this truth gives us hope to face our deceitful hearts with courage!
Heavenly Father, I don’t want
to do anything to break Your heart, but I know there are times when I do. I need
my Savior continuously.
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