11/01/2025
We have been purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ and are privileged to know Him personally. We have been baptized in water, and then again in the Holy Spirit as they were poured over and into us, having been born on the wings of grace and carried within the sweet breath of Christ Himself. Yet despite this, we find that the allure and temptation of sin can be too great for us to resist. How can this possibly be? How can we at one moment be declared the temple of the Holy Spirit and in the next find ourselves in a pit of raging lions… which are our sins.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
When we go to work for an earthly company we might have opinions as to how things should be run, but in the end the decision belongs to our boss. We know this when we accept employment... so why do we struggle so hard against the rule of God over our lives when we have willingly asked Him to be our Lord and His Son to be our Savior? When we ignore our boss’s orders at work we will most likely lose our job but what happens when we fail God and Jesus Christ by resisting or ignoring our Father’s will and the teaching of Jesus?
This struggle confounds us, but it is the result of our own self will and determination. God doesn’t take away our freedom of choice when we choose Him as our God, accept His Son as our savior, and receive the Holy Spirit... no… He magnifies it. He gives us every good thing and then asks us to choose continuously between what He has offered, and the world’s allure.
When I was a little boy I would go to a store called Woolworths Five & Dime. This was a store with a lunch counter and carried many items at a low cost. You could get just about anything you need for everyday life at Woolworths... including candy. It was a wonderland for a small boy. One day I was in Woolworths with my mother, and she was in a hurry, so as we passed by the candy displays she said that I could have a piece next time. But, with her holding my one hand and distracted by trying to balance her purchases with the other, I reached out, grabbed a couple of pieces of penny candy, and stuffed them in my pocket.
When we got to the car I climbed into the back seat and very stealthily unwrapped a piece and stuck it in my mouth. It is amazing how good stolen candy can taste! There is something about having what we have been told we cannot have that increases the desire and the flavor of it. Unfortunately for me, my mother put the car into reverse, and throwing her arm up on the seat back she looked to see what was behind us as she backed up... there I sat in full view with the wrapper and a mouth full of sinfully sweet candy.
How many times have you been doing all of the things that God has asked of you, and then in a moment of poor judgement disobeyed Him? How many times have you been caught with a mouth full of candy and a guilty look on your face? We know the rules, we love Him with all our heart, and then in an instant of temptation our humanity gets the better of us. In that instant we disobey authority, disappoint a parent, let our wife or family down, take matters into our own hands, or we disobey one of God’s commandments and quite possibly His will. It happens all too frequently doesn’t it?
This isn’t the end of my story though. When my mother saw what I had done she asked, “Where did you get that candy?” To which I just looked down and didn’t say anything. Then she dug a little deeper... “did you take that candy from the store?” To which I mumbled, “Yes ma’am.” Now, there were two possibilities as to what could happen next; the first was that she would take me by one arm and paddle me right there in the Woolworth’s parking lot in front of God and country (which was perfectly acceptable in 1958) or do something that I would find much more painful. She chose the latter.
Pulling the car back into the parking space she opened the door, took me by the hand, and marched me right back into Woolworths. We briskly walked up to the cash register and came to a halt. There I confessed what I had done, returned the uneaten piece of candy, told the man how sorry I was, and then stood there as she paid for the piece I had stolen and already eaten.
Isn’t this similar to what Jesus does for us? He leads us to the confession of our sins and then stands there as we ask for forgiveness... all the while knowing He will cover our sin with His payment.
It was a brisk but quiet walk back to the car that day, and I just knew that my ordeal wasn’t over, and it wasn’t. After my mother opened the back door to let me in, she asked me one more question “Do you understand what you did was wrong?” To which I remorsefully replied, “Yes ma’am”. Then, when I thought some additional punishment might be announced, she leaned down and hugged me tight; the lesson was over. I never stole another piece of candy after that.
The Lord loves us like this too. We often think that the sins we have committed are too great to be forgiven, or at least overlooked, but they aren’t. Once we realize what we have done, confessed our sin, and have asked His forgiveness... our sins are separated from us, and we receive the full pardon of God and a loving hug we recognize as grace.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Psalms 103:11-13 ESV
It is wonderful to receive God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit into our lives, but in doing so it magnifies the sins we commit, and our feeling of guilt. We become painfully aware of the implications of sin, and accountable for those pieces of candy we stuff into our pockets. But, even as we have been given the freedom to fail, God has also made provision for our forgiveness and return to His loving embrace. The lessons of sin are not like the ones we let go unconfessed and forgiven... there is no death for us in them because Jesus Christ has paid the price for each and every one of them. How do we want our story to end? Do we want to make it home with the taste of guilt and sinful candy in our mouths, or with the peace that comes from acquiring a new resolve to do what is right, a sigh of relief that comes from forgiveness, and God’s hug of endless love?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your mercy and grace. I thank you for the love which you exhibit in every lesson I am taught. Holy Father, it is comforting to know that I am never so far down the road of sin that I can’t find you there waiting for my confession so that you can forgive me. Your grace knows no bounds Father, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is enough to cover all sin... even mine. No matter how embarrassed or disgraced I am; no matter how distasteful my sins have become, you are waiting for my return to you with a hug of love and sweet expression of forgiveness. Help me Father to forgive myself, even as you have forgiven me. Don’t let my guilt and shame become a tool for Satan as he attempts to keep us separated. Lead me Jesus; lead me back into the Woolworths of my life, and stand beside me as I confess my sin, cover my transgression with your blood, then ask me “do you understand what you did was wrong?” So that I can say “Yes” and ask for your forgiveness. Lift me up Jesus so that our Heavenly Father can take me into His arms once more…. Praised be the name of our Lord God, and great is His mercy and grace. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who knows us, hears our confessions, forgives us through the blood of Jesus, and takes us once again into your loving arms. Holy are you who separates us from our sin as far as the east is from the west and loves us as though our transgressions had never occurred.
Father, hear this our prayer today… that as we confess and humble ourselves before you, that you will forgive us of the sins we have committed knowingly, unknowingly, and by our abstention. Give us complete absolution Father and choose to forget what we have done perfectly so that our relationship can be restored, pure and free of every recollection of sin.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Rich Forbes