Hosanna Restoration Church

There was a song from years ago that asked the question, “How can people be so heartless?” There were other lines with the statement “easy to be hard.” Some of you probably are already trying to remember all the words; the tune is in my head. I was reminded of this as I pondered this scripture.

It is wise for us to consider ourselves from time to time. Daily would be best of course, but the truth is we may not think of this daily. It should not be easy for a Christian to sin. We should not rationalize it away or excuse it because we have grace. Grace is the power to overcome sin in our loves not to embrace it. Grace is also the power to forgive others and have compassion so that they might experience the freedom that the grace of God provides.

So I ask myself if it is easy to override what the Holy Spirit is telling me? Can I be comfortable just going my own way, trusting that if I sin all I have to do is ask forgiveness a little later? While it is true that God forgives, what business do I have telling the Holy Spirit that I will get back to Him?

The truth is, I run the risk of not only quenching the Holy Spirit, but of becoming very hard toward what God really desires. Not only that, but I become a poor example to others. I do not want to be a stumbling block.

Ideally, we should not be comfortable with foul language, lying, stealing, gossiping, immoral behavior, and etc. If we are, it would seem our old sinful self is still in charge even though Christ came to render it powerless if it is our desire of course!

It is not a case of working our way up, it is a case of releasing the power within us so that we are living evidence of the power of God to change lives.

We should not feel condemned when the good news pinches us. It is simply a wakeup call. It is a reminder. When I come short of the glory of God, I need to ask myself why it was so easy if it was easy. On what word from God did I ignore another word from God? How did I manage to act in such a way? Was it easy or was it hard.

The truth is; I usually have to work pretty hard to ignore God. I wish I could say it never happens, but if it never happened this never would have come up. So join me in a simple check. Do you make excuses for sin, or do you excuse it from your life by the power of God? If you do sin; is it easy or hard? It should not be easy or comfortable. Christ has set us free from the power of sin over our lives. Don’t be ruled by it. Don’t excuse it. Remove it. All it does is plug up the blessings of God. We surely do not want that.