Appearances 5

Romans 6:12-13

Last year we had a strange car parked in our driveway. When my wife and I asked about it we discovered the car belonged to a friend of one of our children. He wanted to park it in our driveway because someone was “after him” and he didn’t want the car to be found in his own driveway.

We put a stop to that. We were not about to be embroiled in the turmoils and troubles of someone else.

In his letter to the Romans Paul gives some advice on how to behave. What should we do about sin? Rather than committing sin, where should our focus be?

Leaving someone’s car parked in our driveway required no effort on our part. And truly it was no sacrifice. But what was at issue was that we were not about to offer our property to be used in unwholesome behavior.

The same is true of our very bodies and our actions. We are to shun sin, remove it from our lives. We are not to allow ourselves or our actions to be instruments of unwholesome behavior. Instead, we are to focus our bodies, our actions and our lives on being instruments of God’s goodness.

To do this we need to avoid the trap of only pretending to be good. We need to avoid going through the motions and appearances of holy and righteous behavior. Being a Christian requires more than looking like a Christian. Following Jesus means that we truly have a heart for mercy, justice and love.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you offer yourself as an instrument of God’s righteousness?