The Jacket Thief
(I still love you, gray northface.)
We have a jacket thief around the church.
Someone stole TWO of my jackets. My friend is missing one of his jackets too.
A couple weeks ago, I was sure no one was safe.
Then my mom found one of my jackets at her house. The other is still missing… RIP.
When my mom found one jacket, Abi felt that normal wifely vindication. She never believed in the jacket thief. She’s jaded from my checkered past of blaming her for missing pieces of clothing.
Does every husband have a wife that steals their socks and then hides them again in your closet or drawer trying to cover their tracks? :)
We can’t debate who is to blame… Reality is you don’t have to go very far to find problems with the world.
In Luke 11:4 Jesus prays “Forgive us our sins, and for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
I want to focus on the first phrase today because, like my socks, the fault often lies right at our own feet. Just like my missing jacked, we fight accepting responsibility.
We pray for grace to face the challenges of the world. One of the hardest things to face in the world is us.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” As we attempt to fit God’s world together, we are going to face more than our limitations, we will face our own sins.
Many Christians are profoundly unprepared to face their own sin. They avoid this at all costs and play right into the Enemy’s trap.
The Enemy entices them to ignore their sin, conceal their sin, or try to overcome their sin in their own strength.
All of these approaches keep sin alive and in your life. Keeping sin around to fight in your own strength is a losing battle.
You were saved from sin by Jesus, and you won’t experience success in the fight with sin without His Spirit. You were not saved by grace to be sanctified by works.
Dependence on God is the root of your hope as you turn from yourself to the mercy of God. We cannot stand on our own two feet. Instead, we kneel desperate for mercy from the forgiving King.
Your prayer life must embrace the reality of sin in your life. Jesus teaches us to pray “forgive us our sins” because we will continue to face the reality of sin as we navigate life by the Spirit.
Jesus did not pray, “what sins!?” Christian, you’ve been given the gift of running toward repentance for the rest of your life!
Jesus secured the promise of “No Condemnation.”
In the safety and success of Christ’s atonement–You can run to get rid of what’s destructive, deadly, and dishonoring to God!
His mercy fuels greater and greater repentance… you get to search for sin with joy knowing that you won’t be killed for what you find but be freed!
Is that your posture when you hear “forgive us our sin?”
Too many Christians treat repentance as an “only if necessary” responsibility. Repentance is the “any possible opportunity” of the Christian.
You and I can continually recalibrate our hearts by the Word of God. We can turn from our own strength to God’s. We can snuff out small seeds of sin before they grow roots and thorns.
In the Spirit we can kill what kills before there is carnage.
Are you enjoying the privilege of praying “forgive us our sins” or avoid that prayer until life twists your arm?