Praise Him in My Obedience
Our Struggle with Sin – Part 1
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:5-11
Key Verse: Hebrews 12:4
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Our theme this week is entitled: “Praise Him in our obedience.” In other words, praise does not bring the Father a smile if we are living in disobedience. In fact, Psalm 66:18 reminds us, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” It is obvious in the Bible that praise from our lips and disobedience in our lifestyle do not go together!
In our scripture for today, the Hebrew writer reminds us that there is a struggle when it comes to fighting off sinful behavior (vs. 4). One of the first things we learn in our Christian journey is that the devil never gives up on us. The evil one “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Are you prepared to struggle with sin today? If not today, it won’t be long before an attack will hit you and the evil one will pounce. You probably will feel guilty for even feeling tempted, but you must fight that false guilt. Even Jesus was tempted…in every way (Hebrews 4:15). Don’t waste your energy feeling guilty that you’re tempted; pour all your energy into the struggle against caving in to sin.
The writer of Hebrews reminds these Christ followers that they had not resisted to the point of shedding their blood. This was a reference to those who were martyred for standing for Gods’ truth. In our battles, let’s remember that as well.
Father, grant me strength to stand strong in my struggles with sin. I want to praise you in my obedience! In Jesus’ name, amen.