Easily Beset

  “I never intended to do it. I don’t understand, I thought I had victory over this, my life is a wreck, and I have disappointed my God AGAIN.”

 Can you relate? You thought you’d never take another drink, never partake of that ill gotten drug again, never tell another lie, or allow yourself to watch another questionable television program. Perhaps you truly believed that you were beyond this moral trap, that you could put your life back together and avoid the besetting sin, but here you are again in the pit, feeling the weight of despair.

 This may be a common predicament, but take no comfort in the fact that you are not alone in the pit. It is no consolation that many stumble, or that the mighty have fallen. There is cause for fear when we console ourselves in sin.

 But there is hope for those who desire to walk in His light. John reminds us of God’s willingness to forgive sin through His Son, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:9).” Believer, God stands ready to set your feet back on the old path that meanders through life by His side.

 The writer of Hebrews provides incentives to stay there, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith... (Hebrews 12:1-2a).

 With your sins confessed, be emboldened by the testimonies of those who walked the path before you, and kept the faith. Lay aside your sin once again, with new resolve never to return to it. And finally, fix your eyes on Jesus who has walked before you in a robe of flesh, who now stands at the end of life’s path, arms outstretched, saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28).”