Don’t Worry… Be Happy
Choose Your Yoke – Part XVI

Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:1-6

Key Verse: 1 John 2:1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Today’s Scripture Reading and Key Verse are two more examples of why Jesus’s yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

When we sin, we think that that God should condemn us, and shame fills our minds. If this was Jesus’s way of dealing with our sins, then His yoke would be hard, and the burden would be heavy.

But we must fight those negative thoughts and trust the truth that God’s Word presents to us. When we as a child of God blow it and commit sin, cling to our Key Verse for today. Jesus does not condemn us; He advocates for us. Jesus pleads our case before the Father.

We feel bad about sinning (which is far better than feeling good about it), and we find it difficult to imagine that Jesus wants to advocate for us. We see clearly what we deserve, and it does not make sense to us that we do not get what we deserve. But that is why we sing, “amazing grace, how sweet the sound”!

The devil loves to take every opportunity to keep us from receiving God’s grace and moving forward in our walk with Jesus.

James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and if we do, he will flee from us. There is no better time to resist him than after we have failed the Lord. We must fight our own sense of shame and refuse to let the devil pile on his condemnation.

Memorize today’s Key Verse, as well as Romans 8:1:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

When we cling to these two verses, we choose to stay yoked to Jesus, despite our failures.

For those who struggle with the idea that this gives us permission to be “sinning saints”, read Paul’s words in Romans 6:1-2:

Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Add the Apostle John’s words about “sinning saints”:

Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So, they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.” (1 John 3:9 NLT)

Here is a summary of the truth of all these verses: When we sin, Jesus pleads our case, and God forgives us of that sin. Jesus never condemns God’s children. However, we must never feel entitled to sin or make a practice of it… God forbid that we would abuse God’s wonderful mercy and grace to us!

Father, I receive the grace and mercy that You grant me by my faith in Jesus. Help me to always try to learn from my failures and never justify my sin. In Jesus’s Name, amen.