December 20 Cast Out
“Cast out our sin”
Pray
Take from my soul, Lord, the strain and stress of sin; as I learn to cast all my cares upon Christ, may my life reflect the beauty of Your peace. Amen.
Read – John 12:31
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out”. (KJV)
Reflect
What would you like to “cast out” of your life? Most of us have a secret stash of sins that we think we have hidden from our Lord. If the truth be told, most of us long to be rid of it. Some evil or ugly thought may lie dormant for years, almost forgotten, but not quite. We fool ourselves into thinking that the battle has been won, and that final victory has been celebrated. Then, in an unguarded moment, evil slinks from its lair and catches us unprepared. In just a few moments the advances, that have taken years to achieve, can be wiped out in a bungled and embarrassing retreat.
Interestingly, whenever the Bible uses the phrase “cast out” it usually follows it with the words “the devil.” The Scriptures do not suffer from our sensitivities regarding the naming of evil. Where we have been taught to blame the environment or education, Scripture pulls no punches. It is evil that assails us; it is evil that needs to be cast out. Thankfully, we can take comfort in the knowledge that, if we have given ourselves to Christ, evil cannot have total sway over us. The ultimate victory is assured, since it is His. But for now, in the guerilla warfare of discipleship, we not only need to cling to what is good and noble and true, we also need to ask God to cast out from our lives whatever is not of Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment