Sentries On The Wall

Scripture:  Ephes. 2:4-6  NASB  - But, God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,…made us alive together with Christ….and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus….”

I once owned an oversized plaid green cotton shirt.  I loved everything about it—the comfortable feel of the well-worn cotton, the intermingling of its deep forest green, soft lilac, and light emerald hues!  It never occurred to me that my loving husband viewed it as more of an “eyesore” than anything else!  Well—one day when I asked had he seen it in the wash, I was told ‘the dryer must have eaten it!’  Slowly but surely, I concluded that my “longsuffering” hubby was the culprit in its sudden disappearance!  (He never “fessed up” though).

Sin never looks good on a child of the King; just like that old slouchy-looking but comfortable oversized shirt of mine that went “m.i.a.,” we’ve grown unwittingly comfortable with tolerating some of our own sins.  We know that we are sinners who’ve been saved by the grace of a holy God (Ephes. 2:8, 9), and yet consider, dear saints, the lateness of the hour— the hourglass of our lives—and how we all have “styles of sinning,” (to quote our pastor), that we ought not to be STILL justifying!!

Presumptuous sins grieve our Lord and Savior, not to mention the distorted perceptions of others who witness our Christ-dishonoring behavior.  Never forget how horribly our Lord suffered to make the likes of us His very own—to look like Himself ALL of the time! We must become like sentries on the wall of our OWN thoughts and behaviors—keeping watch on all we say, do, and indulge of our own conduct!  This year let us more vigorously embrace  a heightened appreciation of our Christ-purchased “divine wardrobe,” holiness from the inside out.”

Prayer:  Dear ABBA, let us, Your kingdom people, resolve to be guarded in all our thoughts and ways, such that we give You cause to rejoice over us, rather than to be grieved.  In Christ’s blessed name we give thanks; amen!

(by Denise Diggs)