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Articles
Striving Against Sin
"You have not resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." Hebrews 12:4
Our passage today is a great reminder of the effort, dedication and commitment we must make to the Lord. Simply put, the writer is saying, “You haven’t tried hard enough.” How easily we give up. Any inconvenience, the least hardship, and many complain and quit.
I was reading about the Arkansas preacher, Joe Blue. He loved the Lord. He loved preaching. He often went without food because he had no money. And, the troubles he endured was amazing. One summer evening as he was preaching, there were those standing outside the meeting house throwing walnut shells at him through the open windows. In another place, still visible to this day, are the burn marks on the wood floor of an old church building, where a fuse was lit and dynamite was in the pulpit, with the attempts of killing Joe Blue. The blasting caps didn’t work and Blue went on preaching.
But our verse isn’t about persecution. It’s not about the Shadrach moments in our lives when we must stand while others are bowing. There are times like that. The whispers, the stares, the ignoring, those things hurt, but onward we march with the Lord.
The direction of our verse is about sin. Resisting sin. Yield not to temptation, as the hymn reminds us. Resisting blood, not in standing for the truth, but in fighting sin. Sometimes we might do a better job of handling hardships and opposition than we do in fighting sin.
Resisting to the shedding of blood in striving against sin. Here’s why:
First, sin will change our character. It’s hard to be strong in the Lord when we carry sin in our hearts. Either the word of God will drive the sin out of your life or the sin will drive the word of God out of your life. The two do not like each other and will not co-exist in the same heart. And, when we allow sin to dwell in us, our character changes. We become weaker in faith. Our walk is inconsistent. Compromises have been made. It will hurt us.
Second, multiple places in our New Testament reminds us that with the Lord, the fight against sin can be won. Be holy, as He is holy, Peter tells us. James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Also, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. With every temptation, the Corinthians were told, God provides a way of escape. So, the excuse, “I couldn’t help it,” really isn’t true. You can help it. You can resist. You can flee.
Third, your mind and the environment you surround yourself with makes this harder or easier. Have you noticed that it is harder to think bad thoughts when singing praises to God with others in worship? Have you noticed that when you are really focused in a sermon, looking up passages, and thinking deep, it’s hard to sin? But alone at night, watching some worthless movie, the thoughts of wrong come easily. So, you want to resist sin, change your setting.
To the Hebrews that originally got our verse today, the shedding of blood and the resisting sin likely were tied in to the troubles they faced being a Christian. Jesus shed His blood for us. Will we shed our blood for Him? I hiked several miles the other day. Half of it was uphill. And, most of it was walking on tree roots that were sticking out of the ground. The pace was slow. My ole’ feet were tired that night. Two things helped. First, I wasn’t walking alone. My sweet wife was with me. She was always a few paces ahead of me and she’d stop and ask me if I needed a rest or a drink. I’d tell her, “no,” and we’d keep going. The other thing that helped was seeing others coming down the path. Little kids. People older than I was. They’d made it to the top. Several would tell us, “it’s not far,” or, “it’s worth it.” So, we’d keep going. Sometimes we saw some, turn around and go back. That’s what the Hebrews were thinking about doing. That’s what the devil wants you to focus on. But we keep going. And, when we stay with it, we reach our goal.
How hard are you trying? Do you allow the words of someone who is inconsiderate stop you? Do you allow a little gossip to stop you? Do you allow a little trouble to stop you? It’s easy to turn around. But you never see the view and the beauty at the top if you do. And, if you do, all that you have done so far, will be wasted.
How hard are you trying?
