Vigilance Against Sin - A Devotional Part One

Yesterday I was reading the Bible Study that I'm currently working my way through. There were some important points I thought I would share with you all.

As Believers, we know that we are called to be vigilant to root out any and all sin from our lives. Do we continue to sin after we are born again? Yes. Does the Lord give us what we need to be free of a life of sin? Yes. Can we sin less? YES!!! But how?

In Matthew 26:40-41, Christ is addressing his disciples who had accompanied Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. He tells them, in verse 41, "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Christ points out that although our Spirit is willing to resist sin, our flesh is weak against temptation. In order to resist temptation, He tells them to do two things: 1) keep watching 2)keep praying. For us to cause our flesh to work in cooperation with our willing Spirit (the Holy Spirit within us), we are to be vigilant.

The study I am working through is The Lord's Table, and in regards to these verses the author writes, "Watch against a developing chain of events that lead to a fall in to sin, and remove a link in the chain. Watch for familiar areas in which you are tempted, watch for the uprising of the flesh, watch out for when you are tired, watch out for when you have just had a high spiritual experience, WATCH. But don't watch only. Watch and pray. Pray that God will keep you from falling. Pray that He would give you grace to endure temptation without giving in. Pray for power from above to extinguish the fiery darts of the devil." and "The flesh is always weak, no matter how long we've been pure or how strong we are in faith. There is no saint alive who does not have weak flesh, hence the need to watch and pray against falling."

I know what my weaknesses are, and there are many. What areas of sin are you most tempted by? Watch and pray.

More on this next time...

Abiding in His Grace, and for His glory,
Lori