Wholehearted

"...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."
- Hebrews 12:1-2 
 
"In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." 
- Hebrews 12:4
 
It's not easy being honest with yourself - at least for me it's not. For years I've said that I still "struggle" with sin in my life. But reality - or at least Webster - says that to struggle means "to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition; a long effort to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems." 
 
To say that you (I) are struggling paints a picture of a fighter putting up the proverbial good fight (1 Tim. 6:12). It does not portray someone on the losing side of the battle. But there are many times in my life where I have said I'm "struggling" when in reality what I should have said is I'm actively sinning while trying not too. An even truer statement would be that I've struggled with sin but then I just gave up the fight and gave in to sin.
 
Any person with an addiction will tell you the first step toward healing and overcoming is to admit there's a problem and be honest with yourself. More importantly, be honest with God. 

In honesty I say "forgive me Father, against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight," Psalm 51:4.
 
Here's the great news for you and for me - regardless of how defeated (presently in sin) we may feel, Christ has overcome sin for us and is more powerful than any sin in our lives. The writer of Hebrews also puts us in our place with a challenge here - "in your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood."
 
The bottom line is that as sons, daughters, brothers and sisters of Christ, we must unabashedly love God and vehemently hate sin - not just any sin - OUR SIN! We must desire to be fully submitted to God to resist the temptation, all the while knowing that through that submission and our resisting temptation that satan will flee (James 4:7). Also knowing that God will ALWAYS provide a way out (1 Cor. 10:13).
 
God's perfect plan for you and I is not an ugly repetitive struggle of "try-fail repeat cycle." God has called you and I to be over-comers and to embrace the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians, "...for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself...we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril...on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again."
 
Today is the day that you and I must be honest. Today is the day that you and I turn our hearts to God and get rid of the junk that we allow to weigh us down (Hebr. 12:1-2); submit all we have to Him including our darkest secrets, the hidden places of our hearts and mind and take every thought captive for Christ (2 Cor. 10:5) and say "starting today, right now You have my whole heart."

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