Great devotional resources:
|
|
7/14/04
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be
full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
==========
I've read through the four New Testament Gospels a few times over the years, and
in a variety of translations and paraphrases. Yet I've never once stumbled
across a quote where Jesus uses the terms dysfunction, problem, or issue. He
does seem to mention sin a few times.
We, however, prefer these more sophisticated and modern terms when talking about
our personal failings. Instead of stating, "I sinned," we say, "I made a
mistake," "I experienced a momentary lapse of judgment," "I goofed," "I suffered
a wardrobe malfunction," and so on. We impose on ourselves a sort of verbal
blindness; a smokescreen to obscure the real heart of the matter.
We like to label away the reality of sin as if we can avoid it's consequences by
applying a little PR spin to our behavior. It often seems politicians are
masters of this moral obfuscation. In all honesty, all of us are pretty well
skilled at self-justification, rationalization, and the blurring of hard facts
into gray areas.
Avoidance, by any means, will never solve our problems or recover us from sin.
In fact, it prolongs our rescue from the ties that bind us to spiritual failure
and darkness. Sin is sin, and sin kills, sooner or later.
The simple truth is, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives"
1 John 1:9 - 10 (NIV).
It's really hard to say, "I sinned." But it's the only to be able to see clearly
as God intended.
-- Stephen R. Clark
==========
Stephen (Stephen@StephenRClark.com) resides in Fishers, Indiana and operates
FishersWorship.com and FishersFind.com. He is a professional writer and
communications consultant.
These weekly email devotionals
are provided by FishersWorship.com. The copyright is owned by the author. You
are welcome to use them in your church periodicals or on your church web site as
long as you give complete attribution that mentions both FishersWorship.com as
the source, and that it is copyrighted by the author. For example: "This
devotional is provided courtesy of FishersWorship.com and used by permission.
Copyright (c) 2005 by the AUTHOR. All rights reserved."
Any Fishers, Indiana area pastor, church leader, or other resident may
contribute devotionals for consideration. Go to
www.FishersWorship.com/devotions/default.htm for more information.
Any questions about these devotions or FishersWorship.com should be directed to
Stephen R. Clark, Epiphany Lane Productions, P.O. Box 868, Fishers, Indiana
46038, (317) 435-9673,
info@FishersWorship.com.