Lent – Day 9
We’ll it’s the 9th day of lent and I hope you’ve had some opportunities to feel a bit closer to God, a bit more disciplined in your spiritual walk, and maybe some opportunities to share it with the church. On the 9th day of lent we turn our focus back to our own shortcomings.
I think that sometimes when we talk about sin, we talk about the do not lie, do not steal, do not murder. And while those are real sins that shouldn’t happen, sometimes we forget that when we worry, when we are anxious, when we don’t trust God, or when we cannot wait for him, we are exercising an idol in our heart that goes against God and his desires.
1 John 1:8-10, John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
We all have sin, maybe it’s significant, maybe it’s the ones we don’t call sin. But all of us have sin and seeking to root out that sin helps us to not only walk in closer connection with Jesus, but we see the significance of the cross more clearly.
A long time ago I was reading a book called “The Gospel centered life” by Robert Thune and Will Walker. In the book they presented a diagram that has stuck with me for almost a decade. Here it is:
Over time, the more we understand our sin and the more we understand God’s holiness, the more significant the cross becomes to us. But when we let all the things that stand at odds with God’s grace and mercy, we limit or shrink the work of Christ in our lives.
During lent, we focus on sin and death because it gives us a bigger picture of Easter Sunday, that Jesus’ death and resurrection can bring you new life in the midst of your brokenness. That God can actually transform your anxiety, distrust, worry, and whatever else it may be that is stopping you from acknowledging the work of Christ in you.
Take some time today and think about what it is that is stopping you from the fullness of God’s grace. Spend some time answering these questions:
- What is a reoccurring thought you have and what is its root? (i.e If I worry about money the root may be that I don’t trust God to provide for me)
- Where do I need to let God be in control? How can I make changes to do that?
- What do people around me describe as my sins? How can I change them?
- Do I truly believe that God can heal me from my…? (anxiety, depression, worry, lack of patience, addiction, etc.)