Who
Will Deliver Me From This Body
Of Death?
For
what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not
practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I
agree with the law that it is good. But
now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)
nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is
good I do not find. For the good that I
will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
I
find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight
in the law of God according to the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me
from this body of death? I thank
God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So
then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law
of sin.
Romans 7:15-25
Why
is it that I always seem to keep doing the things I wish I didn’t do and never
seem to do the things I know I should?
We
do not have to stay in the trap of discouragement. We can’t do anything about
our sinfulness on our own. We can’t simply try harder. We can thank God for His
grace in our lives. Without Jesus we are truly nothing. We should focus on the
One who shows us mercy and cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.
When
we focus on the law, we are constantly reminded that we’ll never be good enough
to deserve God’s grace. But when we focus on Jesus, we come more like Him.
Focus on Jesus.
Our
Daily Bread – January 22, 2016