A Conscious Effort Drives Sin Away
Before my quiet time this morning, I got this word, which spoke to my spirit, and I received further understanding of it and decided to share. You know when you wake up in the morning, you have this daily Bible verse show up on your Bible App and then you go “yes, that is really deep” and then it ends there. I got that same feeling this morning and even more that I postponed my quiet time by a few minutes in order to write this. I hope it touches someone who reads it today, or whenever.
The daily verse I received this morning can be found at James 1:21. I read it from the New Living Translation and it states as follows:
“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” – James 1:21 NLT
Getting rid of sin in our lives requires a conscious effort on our part. It requires us to take very active steps to overcome sin and get rid of it from our lives. When we are saved by grace and become righteous, it does not mean that we are immune to sin. It actually opens us up to be tempted to sin so that the enemy can continue to lord sin over our lives. But thank God for His Word because He tells us what to do with filth and evil, which are sin. He teaches us how to get rid of them. It is a call to action to rid ourselves of sin. We cannot sit there as Christians and expect sin to disappear because we are children of God. We have to get rid of it. How do we get rid of sin? We confess it and ask God for forgiveness because He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we do not get rid of sin, the Lord goes far away from us because we are filthy and evil in His eyes and He does not hear our cry and will not answer our prayers. Remember when Jesus carried all the sins of the world on the cross, He had to cry out to His Father because He (Jesus) could not feel God’s presence. That is what sin does: it makes it impossible for God to come near you.
The verse also encourages us to accept the Word of God that has been planted in our hearts by reason of being a Christian because the Word of God has the power to save our souls. If in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and if when we are saved, the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) comes and lives in us, and if the Holy Spirit is the same as God, then we can confidently say that the Word is in us. What I gather from this is that we are expected to demonstrate humility when dealing with God. Even in accepting His Word, which He has planted in us, we must be humble. We cannot be arrogant or pompous about the receiving the Word of God. We must allow the Holy Spirit who lives in us to teach us the scriptures and reveal the mysteries behind the scriptures to us. We must be humble to receive the wisdom and understanding of the Word to enjoy its power.
Then we come to the last leg of this verse, which is just so profound. It talks about the power of the Word of God. This verse tells us that the Word of God has the power to save our souls. As Christians, our soul is in a constant battle because our spirit may be willing to follow God and our flesh will want to continue satisfying itself to the detriment of the spirit. We are then torn between which of the two (spirit or flesh) should we satisfy. Of course, we must satisfy the spirit and not the flesh. Satisfying the spirit can only be achieved through getting rid of the filth and evil and then humbly accepting the Word of God. And then we will receive the power that will save our souls. That is the only way a Christian soul can be saved.
So let us save our souls today. Let’s take steps and get rid of all the filth and evil in our lives so that God can give us His Word and so that we can receive it. And in receiving the Word that God has planted in us, let us demonstrate absolute humility. Let us also believe that the Word of God has the power to save our souls and allow it to direct our path.
Written by Kow Essuman, Esq.
The author is a barrister; qualified to practise law in England and Wales, New York and Ghana; a Global Shaper (Accra Hub) of the World Economic Forum and a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Official Website of Kow Essuman 