Daily Reading

Romans 6:15-23; Psalm 93; Proverbs 13:21-23

If we are free in Christ, doesn't that mean we can just do whatever we want? Can there be freedom under authority? Well, Paul answers this question pretty plainly. We are always going to be under the authority of something since we were created by an ultimate authority. So our choices are God or sin. We can either let sin tell us what to do, or we can let God tell us what to do. When we choose sin, the Message Bible tells us, "As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't need to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end."

Think about your life without God. Where did it lead you? What did you get out of it? Happiness, joy, peace? Probably not. So where is your freedom there? Paul is telling us freedom is found in following God's ways for that is where we find happiness, joy, & peace. Give this new freedom a try & see where it leads you.

Psalm 93 tells us of God's mighty power. He rules the storms & the seas. This gives us a great word picture that helps us understand Romans 6. God has total control over nature. Man attempts control, yet we have no ultimate power to make nature do our bidding. Look at our current troubles with the flooding. We can build dams & levies, but ultimately we can't force the waters to do what we want. Only God has control.