Clean Up Your Lives

CLEAN UP YOUR LIVES YOU SINNERS. PURIFY YOUR HEARTS, YOU PEOPLE WHO CAN’T MAKE UP YOUR MIND. James 4.8 (Contemporary English Version).

The reason often you and I still live in sin is that we cannot ‘make up our mind’ either to make a clean break from our sins and begin to obey the commandments of God, or to continue committing sins! Cleaning up your life and purifying your heart have become doubly difficult because you are “double minded” or you 'cannot make up your minds' about it.

We love our sin! We are not quite decided whether we want to repent and turn away from our sin. So it exerts its evil grip on us. Hence, in order to succeed, we atleast need to have a determination to stop sinning.

Instead of decidedly hating our old sinful deeds, we often try to dabble in our former sin for fun and pleasure. We deliberately make occasion for them! We tempt the devil! We play with sin like a flimsy butterfly fluttering around the fire. We flirt with sin and try to see who wins! Because we foolishly go too near ‘the fire’ we get burned! How often we and even many good men have played the fool and lost!

Do you know why Paul said to young Timothy, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness”? (1 Tim 6.11). Timothy was being encouraged to be like the wise young man Joseph - ‘leave our clothes behind if need be and flee from all tempting situations so that we will not fall prey to temptation and sin!’ It is not in the proximity of sin that you should try to be smart and try to “stand firm and resist the devil!” It will prove to be the most dangerous thing to do!

Dear believer, how often have you and I ‘played with sin as with fire and got burned?’ You need to have a desire and a passion for holiness and purity. Like Joseph, we too must be able to say, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen 39.8). You should have the determination not to flirt with any sin. You should not make occasion for it or remain in such situations. Then you can have victory. You can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God! He gives me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15.57).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me 'to make up my mind to clean up my life and purify my heart.' Let me not flirt with sin any longer. Give me victory over sins that easily entangle me! (Heb 12.1). Amen.