BIBLE PASSAGE:
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,
but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from
death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of
righteousness.
(Romans 6:13)
MEDITATION:
“All in” is a phrase often used to define “fully committed”.
It refers to more than just a partial commitment.
In athletics, it defines a person who is dedicated to
doing everything he or she can do to improve.
They have a strong desire to eliminate their flawed
areas and improve their skills where they excel.
Paul talks about this “all in” attitude toward our commitment to the Lord.
He says, “Do not offer ANY PART of yourself to sin”.
When we are not “all in”, we allow a part of ourselves to
become (or remain) an “instrument of wickedness”.
Anything wicked cannot be pleasing to the Lord, right?
Paul tells us that we have been reborn, when he says we are,
“as those who have been brought from death to life”.
and
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)
Similar to a fully committed athlete, we need to
“offer EVERY PART of ourselves to the Lord”.
That means that rather than allowing a portion of our life
to still belong to sinfulness, we instead commit our entire
being to becoming “an instrument of righteousness”.
Is that a tall order?
Of course it is,
and it is not something we can accomplish in our own strength.
But the good news is, God has given us the Holy Spirit to
help us achieve what may otherwise seem unachievable.
However, when we achieve this ‘purging’ of sin in all areas
of our lives, we have effectively switched from sin being our
master, to living our lives with God’s grace in control.
The benefits of this transformation are too numerous to list
in this brief devotional, but suffice it to say that we will be
blessed immeasurably and the blessings will overflow to
those around us.
If we are honest, isn’t “God’s blessings” what we all really desire?
The world can never come close to matching what He can provide!
When we are “all in”, we experience freedom from the control of sin
(and no Christian wants to be controlled by anything God opposes).
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body
so that you obey its evil desires. (Romans 6:12)
ACTION:
So, the question each Christian should ask themselves is,
“Am I ‘all in’ with my commitment to the Lord?”
In order to answer that question we need to compare
our attitudes, actions and words to those of Jesus.
Do you think Jesus had uncontrollable anger?
Did He try to discourage others?
Was He consumed with Himself and His desires?
What was His attitude toward others?
Did He use profanity and/or vulgar language?
Was He known for putting things in His body that were harmful?
These are just a few examples, but we could list many more.
It is really simply asking ourselves a couple of questions:
“Would I do or say this if Jesus was sitting in the room with me?”
“Is what I am doing pleasing to God?”
If the answer to either of these questions is “No”,
then we know there are some parts of our life which are
still being ‘offered to sin as an instrument of wickedness’.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me if I am not fully committed
to You. You know how difficult it is for me to release some
areas of life that are displeasing to You and are causing me
to remain a slave to sin. However, You promised to give me
Your Holy Spirit to help me eliminate these areas of my life
so that I can be more pleasing to You, so that I can become
more like the Jesus I am following, and so that I can receive
new blessings You have for me. Thank You for all of your
promises and help me in my efforts to break free from the
chains of sin, so that I can embrace the joy of being a child
of Yours!”
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
Discussion
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