Ken Dickson
LIVING WITH SIN
We live in a world that pulls us in every direction but the direction God wants us to go. St. Paul writes in Romans 6: 19-20 “ For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” As we live on this planet the war of good and evil rages on. As Christians, the battle may rage on but the war has been won on the cross, the cross of Calvary.
Luther writes, “A Mighty Fortress is our God” A fortress built by man is a place of strength and safety were the enemy and the forces of evil can be held back. We as soldiers of Christ must get behind our Lord who is our fortress and don the armor He gives us as we go through life living with sin. Our God has created for us, His Church here on earth. The Church is a place of refuge a place to find peace and fellowship among other believers, but most of all a place to worship and gain strength through His Word and Sacrament, giving us the strength to go out from it’s walls and spread the message of the sacrifice God made in sending Jesus Christ into the world to die and rise, triumphing over sin and the devil.
As we enter this season of Lent, sin and suffering becomes the focus and the reason we can give thanks for the salvation to come. The human race is born into sin and lives with sin day in and day out. We as Christians know that through the perfect life and death of Jesus, that sin is a temporary condition. If we as people living with sin can recognize our sin and believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of that sin, God the Father will see us pure and blameless without sin when we meet face to face.
Many Christians during these weeks of Lent try giving up a worldly pleasure as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for us, yet so many times those who try find it hard to even stay true to that small gesture. So when we fall short we must reflect on the perfect life Christ lived and then look to the cross and the awesome sacrifice God made for all mankind.
So this Lenten season I would urge you all to come and worship on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings to reflect on what Our Lord endured so that our living with sin can be transformed into living with Christ and dying to sin.
May Our Lord who conquered all sin rise up in your heart and give you the peace of His salvation.
Yours in Christ, Ken Dickson
