We have a rat problem in our house. It is creating tension and stress in our home. It’s been irritating us for a few months now. It’s scratching our doors, scattering our garbage, gnawing holes in our walls, chewing up storage containers and clothes…the list goes on and on.
We’ve tried so many ways to try to get rid of it or stop it from getting into our house. Cages, fly papers, glue boards. I’ve been able to kill two of them, but others continue to come from nowhere. My wife has boarded up as many holes as she can find. It has truly been excruciating, especially for her. The rat is also getting more and more arrogant. At times, we will meet it at our stairs. In the first encounters, he would scamper away. Recently, he’s been playing chicken. If the rat meets my wife, she would scream and run away. Score 1 for the rodent. If its me it meets, I would face him and when I advance, he would sometimes run away. Now? Its not fazed anymore. It would go directly to where it wants to go even if I am standing right in front of it.
Sin is like a persistent rat problem.
You know sin is wrong and you you need to stop it. You also know that it is hard to deal with it. In the challenges and difficulties that you face in trying to stop sinning, you may end up frustrated. It is really hard trying to stop especially if it has become so pervasive in your life. You do it so often and try to stop so often that you end up not “killing” it.
I can understand this. I usually come into such a situation. I too, like many others, have sin in my life. I sometimes feel that there is no more hope. We are trapped in a quagmire of misery.
But we do know that there is hope. We know that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins. His blood was shed in the cross to redeem us.
Romans 8:1 says, ‘So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” We know that we have been forgiven. We know that we will be forgiven when we ask Jesus. We know that Jesus will not condemn us because of our sin.
When we try to deal with sin through our own efforts, we usually fail and fall back into it. We do it over and over and during this cycle we sink deeper and deeper. We do all sorts of sacrifices, rituals, formulas so that we can get free from the grip of sin. And then we fail again.
Only Christ and His Holy Spirit can deliver us from this cycle of bondage. He alone, not our efforts, can completely deliver us. Yes, we have our part and that part is to yield all our efforts and trust in God. Every thing else will fail.
Are you in this situation? Take heart. Jesus has been there and He was victorious. We can too!
