“Do
not say, ‘I sinned, yet what has happened to me?’, for the Lord is slow to
anger. Do not be so confident of forgiveness that you add sin to
sin. Do not say, ‘His mercy is great, He will forgive the multitude of my
sins’, for both mercy and wrath are with Him, and His anger will rest on
sinners.” Sirach 5:4-6
More
than any, the believer who has been justified before the Lord must realize not
only that more is expected of us because more has been given to us (Luke
12:48); we must surely also be mindful of the power of sin to overtake us
especially when we take salvation for granted, assume that our Lord’s divine
and eternal love somehow automatically absolves us of sin we continue to live
in, and let our guard down. That love, as expressed in Jesus’ parable of
the prodigal, is ever present; but we must turn toward that love in repentance
and humility. This is our embrace that constantly acknowledges the
presence and mercy of the Lord. The Lord does not save us IN our sins;
the Lord delivers us FROM all sin!
We
have been called to something much greater than the moment we are currently
in. Let us embrace that calling and move into that vocation so that we
can show others the way. “Let your light so shine before all, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven” (Matthew
5:16).
Blessings,
Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment