Mark 13:33
January 30, 2024
FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO – 31st JANUARY
January 31, 2024
THE 30th OF JANUARY
WE ARE THE SLAVES OF WHOM WE OBEY
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? – Romans 6:14-16
It is not easy to understand how wonderful the grace of God really is. It seems easier to believe the false idea that our works can save us. If people could be saved by their own deeds, Jesus Christ would not have to die. It is true that “faith without works is dead,” but the works should be the result of the inner change, produced by the new birth through the Holy Spirit. The inner change comes through in our behavior and actions. Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we no longer desire to live a life of sin according to the carnal nature, but we want to do what is pleasing to the Lord, being led by the Holy Spirit.
We belong to and are enslaved by whoever or whatever we choose to obey. If we choose to obey sin and persist in it, we cannot belong to Christ. If we want to truly belong to the Lord, we seek to do what He likes. Jesus often said while He lived on the earth, that He came to do the will of the Heavenly Father, and that He did nothing else but what He had seen His Father do. We are called to walk in the footprints of Jesus and live a life worthy of being called children of God.
SUGGESTED PRAYER
Thank You Lord God for Your grace! Thank you for setting me free from the bondage of sin and bringing me into the kingdom of Your Son of Your love. Please help me to remember every time a sin tempts me that it has no power over me, but through Jesus I have the power to resist it and not sin. The joy of being right with You and of feeling your presence exceeds any short-lived, so-called “pleasure” that any sin can offer. Please help me to never forget how serious the consequences of sin are, and that every committed sin gives the devil the right to hurt me. Thank You Lord for the power to choose right and to do Your will. Glory and honor to Your Name, forever. Amen
Source: thetruthstandsforever
