I don’t know if it was in a song or a sermon, but I do remember the repetition of “It’s Friday now, but Sunday’s comin’!” Let’s take one more look at our sinfulness before we start looking at the riches we’ve been given in Christ.
Please do not let this get you down. Let it instead fill your heart with love for Christ who sacrificed so much for us when we were in the muck and mire.
We evangelical believers generally abstain from the grosser sins of society; in fact, we tend to sit in judgment of those who practice such things. But beneath the surface of our own lives we tolerate all kinds of ‘refined’ sins . . . . Beyond that, we seldom think about the words of Jesus that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” . . . I don’t think any of us can fully plumb the depths of that commandment, but here are some obvious aspects:
- Your love for God transcends all other desires (Ex. 20:3)
- Like David, you long to gaze upon His beauty and seek fellowship with Him. (Psalm 27:4)
- You rejoice in meditating on His Word, and, like Jesus, you rise early to pray. (Psalm 119:97, Mark 1:35)
- You always delight to do His will, regardless of how difficult it may be. (Psalm 40:8)
- A regard for His glory governs and motivates everything you do–your eating and drinking, your working and playing, your buying and selling, your reading and speaking–and, dare I mention it, even your driving. (1 Cor. 10:31)
- You are never discouraged or frustrated by adverse circumstances because you are confident that God is working all things together for your good. (Romans 8:28)
- You are content because you know He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) ~ Jerry Bridges, The Gospel for Real Life