1Thessalonians 5:11
September 21, 2024
TODAY’S GOSPEL READING FOR 21 SEPTEMBER
September 21, 2024
THE 21st OF SEPTEMBER
LIVING FULLY FOR THE LORD REQUIRES TOTAL SURRENDER
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” – 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
To live a life that pleases God, we must surrender everything to Him and remove from our lives anything that displeases Him. The enemy will attempt to lure us back into old sinful habits, but we must remember that through Jesus, we have been made new. We are no longer slaves to sin, but temples of the Holy Spirit, who is always ready to assist us when we seek His help in resisting temptation.
As we continually seek God’s presence and feed on His Word, our minds will be renewed, transforming us to become more like Jesus. This process of transformation helps us replace the “old leaven,” symbolizing our former sinful ways, with the truth of God’s Word. Only by daily immersion in God’s Word and presence can we move from malice and wickedness to a life of sincerity and truth.
SUGGESTED PRAYER
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your sacrifice through which I received salvation. Father, please reveal if there is anything I have yet to surrender to You that might defile me as “old leaven.” Help me to resist letting my old sinful nature control me, and enable me to live a pure life that glorifies You. May my mind be renewed by Your Word, replacing the “old leaven” of worldly thinking with the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
