DAY 3: LORD, HELP ME WITH MY SIN PROBLEM – PASTOR HEIDEN RATNER
PASTOR HEIDEN RATNER
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SCRIPTURE
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21 ESV
DEVOTION
One thing every human being has in common is that we all share a similar problem–the sin problem.
Sin, by definition, is missing God’s mark for our lives.[1] The Apostle Paul brings clarity to what this mark looks like in Romans 3:23, writing: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23 ESV) The gloomy reality is that at one point or another we have all failed to give God the glory He is due, as a result we have sinned against our holy and righteous Creator. We take up after our ancestors Adam and Eve who ushered sin into the world at the beginning of creation. (Romans 5:12-14)
Paul goes onto remind us of further bad news. Our sin comes with a debt payment. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23 ESV) God owes each of us a justified wage for our sins and that wage is death.
BUT GOD.
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that instead of God giving us what we deserve – eternal death apart from His presence – He gives us His Son. This baby born in a manger in the small town of Bethlehem would be the One who would go up on a cross to save us from our sin problem and pay our ransom. Jesus would not only die for our sins, but He would rise from the grave confirming His triumph over sin and death. When we put our faith in Him, His victory becomes ours and His righteousness is transferred to our account. (Romans 5:21) Praise God for the Son of God who saves us from our sin!
4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” – Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
PRAYER
Lord, today I acknowledge that I have a sin problem. My sin separates me from You and it’s costly. If I let it, it will rob me of my joy, tamper with my purpose, and strip away my peace. I don’t want that. I want to walk in You. I want to walk in victory over sin. I need Your help to do that and I ask You to empower me by your Spirit and grace to say no sin and yes to righteousness.
Spirit lead me when I feel tempted to sin. Remind me that You’re better. In Jesus name, amen!
