| Daily Thought — January
11, 2008 |
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| LIVING THE
SOLUTION WITH DAILY INSPIRATION |
Here's a
word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15 — The Message)
We all know this, but what is sin?
We all can describe “acts” of sin, such as
murder, adultery, stealing and so on. But what is sin?
Sin is the wanting to call the shots in your life, being
unwilling to submit to God and His will for you, and
putting yourself and wants before the needs of God and
others. Sin is all about self and it manifests in the
ways describe above, as well as other ways. Sin is a
position of the heart, an attitude of the heart—the “I
know best, look out for #1, me” attitude.
In God’s eyes all sin is the same for He does not
look at the act but the heart. The heart of murder is
no different than the heart of someone who lies about
a fellow employee for personal gain. Both are only thinking
about self and exalting self. The man or woman who ignores
the needs of their spouse because those needs are not
their needs is only thinking about and exalting self.
Jesus said He whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it and he whoever holds on to his life will loose
it.
My point in this is we are all equally sinners. No one
is a “bigger” sinner than someone else in
God’s eyes and we need to learn to see things as
God sees them. The good news is we are the very people
Paul is speaking of in his letter to Timothy. We are
the very people Jesus came to save and restore. He did
not leave us in our self-absorbed state, rather he came
to set us free from the power of sin and ourselves.
We will truly appreciate what God has done for us when
we fully understand what sin is. Once we understand what
has been done for us we can then respond to God from
our hearts and follow and love Him with passion, not
out of duty or obligation.
I pray that you see things as they really are, not so
that you would feel bad about yourself but so that you
would be able to respond to God, His love and invitation
for a personal intimate relationship. Accept that invitation.
Respond to Him, and from there live the life that God
designed you for. Live it from your heart.
Live intentionally, purposely, free and with passion,
Pete Reinbold
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Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of
International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the
offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent
of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved. |
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