Right And Wrong

Have You Ever Wanted to Do Right But Wrong Was Sitting Right There?

Guess what? You are not alone. The best of us feel this way. We have holes in our socks! What do I mean? Some of us have more obvious habits that are not God's best for us. You know; things like cigarettes in our purse, weed in our pocket, a hangover, or a few extra pounds around our waists. But some of us have well-buried, secret sins that we tend to deny because they aren't so obvious. So you see: We have holes in our socks.

I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience? Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

The reason I put the above in bold is that these are the words of God through The Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 7 verses 14 to 25 in The Message Bible. WHHAAAT? You may be saying, “God has holes in His socks!????” No, but we do, and guess what, He knows it. Yet, He gave us the answer in Jesus Christ. God wants to mend the holes in our socks.

Your next line may be, “I don’t know about that; my socks are pretty holey.” They may be, but God is Holier than your socks! Do you believe that God can do all things? Do you believe that God is able? Let me tell what God has to say about this: “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)

You may have a hard time wrapping your mind around the words of bold in this post, because it’s hard for you to believe that God can speak modern day English. But His Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever because the Word is Jesus Christ made flesh, and He is the same: The Great I AM!

And you may have a harder time wrapping your mind around the words of bold in this post, because what you see and are told by those wearing designer Christian labels on their persons are not these words. BUT, the bolded words of this text ARE the words of God. So don’t be fooled. Those Christians with designer labels of Christianity have holes in their socks, too! Whew! It takes the pressure off knowing that we don’t live by the will of man, but by the will of God.

You see those who have holes in their designer Christian socks are most likely offended by Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse facing a modern-day challenge. Yep, they have holey socks and are forgetting that we have a Holy God!

So let me leave you with God’s words, and not mine, again in modern English from The Message Bible. “So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

So I believe in a world that has lost its way, these are the days of the great awakening of the Amazing Grace of God!