7 You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same thing. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin meant. I would never have known what it means to want to take something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.” 8 And sin found a way to use that command and cause me to want all kinds of things I should not want. But without the law, sin has no power.9 I was alive before I knew the law. But when the law’s command came to me, then sin began to live,10 and I died. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death.11 Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die.
12 So the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good.13 Does this mean that something that is good brought death to me? No! Sin used something that is good to bring death to me. This happened so that I could see what sin is really like; the command was used to show that sin is very evil. Romans 7: 7-13 (emphasis mine)
I love the fact of knowing with the law we can see “the command was used to show that sin is very evil“. It is so easy to trick ourselves into believing something isn’t sin, but when I look at the commands the sin is right out there, front and center. This was brought to my attention recently because I’ve been debating on whether or not to make a trip to the states for a couple of months. I really want to go visit friends and family but am I wanting something outside God’s will for me right now? Is sin using something good (seeing family and friends) to bring death to me (disobedience to God)?
Obeying is much more than just a flippant thought of “yes I will obey”, but must be something desired deep within my soul and yes to be honest I don’t feel that deep desire to obey on this one quite yet! You’re probably saying “come on, it’s been over a year already, get with the program” but it seems I’m still fighting God. There are days when I do feel contentment with where God has me but there are other days I just want to have an earth shattering experience and finally come to that place where obedience is a joyful experience…always, or at least most of the time 🙂
Maybe it’s time to stop fighting and relying on emotional experiences and just lay it all out there for God to deal with. Oh boy, guess I should hold on tight for this ride!