Author:
Tim
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Date Posted: 12:06:23 03/04/11 Fri
I am a slave to righteousness. That's doing the right thing, no matter what comes. How do I know what the right thing is? Because I work at it; that's what a slave does, he works tirelessly at that which he has been enslaved to.
I used to be a slave to sin. I knew not that it was what was keeping me from achieving my goals, my dreams and my desires that were righteous and hidden deep within me. I pursued them, but my motives were skewed and no matter what I did, I would find myself right back in the same place I started from; missing the mark and nursing my wounds, which I know now were often self inflicted.
This new Way is better! I may not look any richer, or healthier to those who see me with natural eyes, but inside I know that I am both! Richer, healthier and more and more approaching the dreams that were put inside me when I was still inside my mother's womb. God had a plan for me that was better than I could have ever imagined. It was not just about what I could achieve and gain for myself in the here and now, but about the eternal things that cannot be measured in this life.
The rewards do not look the same as those that I once pursued. As a slave to sin, I looked for recogintion, achievement and success in worldly things. All of it was wrapped up in the perception of others; I was an approval junkie! Looking for the approval of the authority figures in my life, but never quite getting there. I would come close and then something would go wrong and failure would be the outcome. I did not know that I was looking for the Father's love and approval all the time and that could only come through a relationship with the Father who created me.
The new birth is the only way to the relationship that every human being is searching for. Jesus told this to Nicodemus, the pharisee who came to Him by night. It's recorded in the third Chapter of Saint John's gospel. He said, marvel not that you must be born again. It's the spiritual re-birth that brings everyone who asks for it to the feet of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, where He died to set at liberty those who were enslaved to sin. My former master, Satan, was defeated when God raised Jesus from the dead. He was the promised Messiah to the Jews. He was the One who was foretold by the prophet Isaiah and Daniel and Ezekiel and on and on.
We are closer to His return than any generation that has ever lived. The same thing he explained to Nicodemus before He died on the cross applies to everyone who hears it today. Jesus is the great reconciler of man to God. The bridge, as it were, to everything good and right and He can and will make you and everyone who chooses to follow after Him a Victor in the greatest battle. That battle is for the soul of man.
Come to the cross! Come to Christ and receive forgiveness of sins! He is waiting for you! He will set you free from every bondage and every yoke that keeps you from achieving every goal that is right and true. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self Control await every child who will accept the free gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ Today. Amen.
T.O. - 3/4/2011
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