Day 14: Sin Is Lawlessness

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

»  When was the last time you chose to trust your own thinking and plans rather than God’s clear direction for your life? How did that work out for you?

»  On a scale of 0-10, how much do you actually believe that obedience and submission to God and His ways is absolutely the most rewarding and safe thing a person can do? (remember that if your answer truly is 10, you’d never rebel)

»  Focus today on con dent trust - that if you obey God, it will serve you well.

»  Practice the memory verse.

QUOTE

“Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and empathic independence of God.”
- Oswald Chambers

SCRIPTURE

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”
- 1 John 3:4

DEVOTIONAL

All sinful behaviors and choices are the same sin, and that sin is rebellion against God: rejection of his rule over our lives. Sin is living without reference to God, not viewing him as the defining authority of our lives, around which our entire being needs to be centered. It is believing that you know better than He, and then acting on that belief.

Consider our solar system: It is perfectly designed and it works as intended because it operates within that design. The slightest degree of variation of Earth’s rotation or orbit, for example, would render our planet uninhabitable. What would happen if some of the planets decided not to orbit the sun? Or to create their own orbits, around whatever object they desired? Or refused to orbit at all?

The answer is death and destruction. The solar system as we know it would unravel and fall apart because the planets would not be orbiting the correct center. They would not be living in reference to the sun, and everything would fall apart and be destroyed.

Life works best when lived in full surrender and obedience to the laws and ways of God. It was designed carefully by God that way, for our guidance, favor, and blessing. God invites us to leverage His ways for our own good, but our stubborn hearts and self-centered egos are not convinced. We trust our three pounds of brain to outsmart God and His design. The reality is that the wisest person on earth; the most shrewd thinker; the most sel sh decision-maker ever, would choose obedience to God as their path because they would understand that it is absolutely the best path for them. But our sin-nature doesn’t allow for this, and we rebel. We choose lawlessness. We choose sin.