Walk of Life- Day 6 – January 2021 – Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs
NEW BEGINNINGS – NEW DELIVERANCE
Proverbs 6:3 “Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hands of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.”
Life was going all good till the year 2020. This year remains to be unforgettable in the pages of history. The pandemic has just pushed all of us to a state of shock. Many people started waiting for the new year, that is, 2021. When the year end approached, they started posting different thoughts of theirs. One of such posts is that “Good bye 2020, good bye corona”. How good would it be if this slogan was true! Sadly, the pandemic still exists and has upgraded too.
2021 did not mark the deliverance from the pandemic as everyone expected. Till date, we get to see the fluctuations in number of positive cases. The term deliverance gives us a positive vibe of freedom. Though we have many aspects of deliverance such as physical, mental, and spiritual, let us discuss about a deliverance which is the must in everyone’s life.
One might wonder thinking from what should we be delivered? Here is the well-known fact that all are sinners. Even the person who calls himself a ‘Christian by birth’ ought to change his statement to ‘I am a sinner by birth.’ Today we are going to deal with the topic- “Deliverance from sin.”
How can we treat sin as a bondage from which we need to be delivered? Most of us do not see sin as a bondage, instead we rejoice being in it. We never see the need to come out of it. It is because we fail to realize what kind of bondage we are in and what our end is going to be.
The Holy Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned…” and we also read in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” by this we understand that we all are sinners and if we continue to serve sin, we end up dying. A death where the worm does not die and the fire does not get quenched.
Is there a way to be delivered from this place? Yes, there is a way and that way is the Lord Jesus Christ who has come on to this world and today is willingly stretching forward His Hands presenting you the ‘New Deliverance’. Are you willing to take it now?
There are three steps of deliverance from sin. They are:
- Deliverance from the power of sin.
- Deliverance from the penalty of sin.
- Deliverance from the presence of sin.
We all are sinners by birth as stated earlier. We were all helpless. We had no other choice, but to be a slave to the sinful desires that had been ruling us. Sin has been exercising its power on us. We were not just being ruled by sin, but were also getting closer to receive the wages of sinning without measure. That is when the God, the Father saw our helpless sate and planned to deliver us from this bondage of sin. He sent His only son, the Lord Jesus Christ as a medium to execute what He has planned and purposed. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent to this world to take up all our sins on him. By shedding His precious blood on the cross of Calvary, He cleansed us and purchased us to be His own and He also rose up on the third day defeating the death. Thereby, delivering us from the power of sin. He died on the cross of Calvary, paying all our wages of sin. Thus, He delivered us from the penalty of sin. For those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now, that His blood delivers us from the power of sin and His sacrifice delivers us from the penalty of sin get delivered and become the children of God.
Once we confess our sins, believing in the Lord Jesus, ask Him to forgive us, He will cleanse all our sins and make us His own asset. Only then can we experience the real deliverance. We no longer have to serve the old sinful nature or have to fear that we will end up in hell.
Have you received this deliverance?
The third step of deliverance is a continual process. This continues till we meet our Lord Jesus on that blessed day. Have you ever seen a lotus? I have heard that lotus grows in a muddy pond. Whenever the water gets on to the leaf of the plant, the water slides down. This teaches us a lesson. We live in this world where sin has occupied the entire space, but still as the children of God, washed by His precious blood, we ought to live a life like lotus keeping ourselves clean from the sins around us every moment. It is said that we always need to bring ourselves under the flow of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all our sins.
If you take the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus for granted, you will not feel uncomfortable when you see sin encroaching your soul. Slowly, sin takes over and leaves you spiritually dead. Death is termed as separation. Separation of man from God. Even though you have been a born-again believer since many years, you might find it difficult to pray or spend time with the Lord. It is because you have lost the connection with Him. You have been loitering in the places from where you cannot reach Him.
We are to examine ourselves and see where we have been serving as slaves to the sin. Which door have we left for a particular sin to find its way to our soul? Is it your eyes that see unnecessary things? Is it your ear that gives way for unwanted gossips to enter in? Is it your mouth that speaks all inappropriate things?
My dear friend, you must have been struggling hard to be out of all these. You want to re-establish the connection with God. However, staying in sin you cannot, only when you wholeheartedly agree to be out of it and ask the Lord to deliver you, then you will be free from that sinful life.
Shall we take a moment in asking the Lord to deliver us from the power, penalty of sin, and to help us in keeping ourselves holy till we attain deliverance from the presence of sin?
Do not postpone. We read in the verse of the day which says, “Now, deliver thyself” Now is the right time you act!
New Year Resolution: Lord, I thank you for delivering me from the power and from the penalty of sin. I no longer serve this world and its desires; I am your owned possession. However, due to my infirmities and weaknesses I have been yielding towards sin and fulfilling the desires of my sinful self. The little things I have overlooked may have taken me far from you. You are still my father. I come to you in a helpless state, kindly deliver me from the sinful nature which has been trying to pull me away from you. Help me to lead a holy life. Thank you in Jesus’ name for the ‘new deliverance’ that you have given me, Amen.
