Making Consecration
So Abram made a little compromise, taking his nephew Lot with him to Canaan, and perhaps you recognized a similar tendency in your own life. Like that little bit of poison ruining a brownie, the littlest sins contaminate our souls.
The Universal Struggle
Paul famously spoke about this in Romans 7. And if you wonder if your struggle with this is normal, take heart today that Paul himself struggled with this: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" (Romans 7:15-24 NIV11)
Paul, saved though he was, found that he sometimes ended up doing the things he didn't want to do because his sinful nature dragged him into it again and again. Each Christian has found this to be true. Being a Christian didn't stop the tug of war in your soul between good and evil. And it's easy to just mix in a bit of evil—to take "Lot" along with you, whatever "Lot" represents in your life.
The Power of the Spirit
But there is good news. Because Paul didn't finish his story in Romans 7. He goes in, in chapter 8, to talk about how life in the Spirit gives us power over this sinful nature that used to control us. He writes: "Brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God." (Romans 8:12-14 NIV11)
We call this sanctification—God enabling you to live victoriously, and not in the chains of constant defeat, by faith.
Abram made compromises, and each Christian does the same at first in their lives. God continues to use us, like He did Abram, in spite of our compromises. But how much more will God use us if we put to death the sins that we used to fall into, and live holy lives by the Spirit?
We'll never be perfect. But with the Spirit in us, we can be holy and stop making compromises. Maybe today God is calling you to deeper commitment. To a new faith in His Spirit's power to sanctify you. Maybe you need to leave "Lot" behind today and walk on without him, in freedom!
The Path to Freedom
Here’s how to do it: make a real and earnest consecration of your whole life to God. Leave nothing out, but lay it all on the altar before Him. Then believe that He will cleanse your heart in this moment. Believe He has done it! Then live a life of radical obedience – cutting off sinful temptations as they come, as you walk in close communion with God all day every day.
You can be done making compromises. Paul moved away from the Romans 7 life, to a life of freedom in the Spirit. May we do the same.
