Faith-bearing Seed for the Soul
"While the earth remaineth,
Seedtime and harvest
....shall not cease"

Genesis 8:22

"From Leaves to Leather and Love"

This is the time of the year that we make New Year's resolutions.  They are our promises to ourselves that we are going to do "better" in the future. And most generally, they deal with some sort of lack or sin in our lives. We vow to ourselves, and usually our promise lasts for a short duration of time before we succumb to going back to our old habits...only to prove that in ourselves, without God's help,  we can do nothing. Paul writes...

Romans 7:18 LB...

"I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can't make myself do right.  I want to but I can't."

However, God didn't leave us hanging in this predicament...Paul closes this chapter by saying that through Jesus Christ our Lord we have been set free from the grasp of the sinful nature that mercilessly binds us.

As I began my reading through the Bible on this first day of the new millennium, I noticed in Genesis that when Adam and Eve found themselves in a sinful state and naked, they attempted to cover up their sin wth, of all things, fig leaves that they had sewn together, which is typical of  our yearly resolutions. How long do you think fig leaves would last? I would guess about as long as my New Year's resolutions last.

When God came to walk with them in the garden, He found them hiding from Him because they were afraid because they were naked... apparently their fig leaves had dried up and were no longer there to cover them. But, we see God's grace and love towards mankind from the very beginning...

Gen. 3:21

"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

Our efforts to cover our sins are so futile, fragile and not lasting. God knew the only price for the remission of sin was the shedding of blood, so He took the life of an animal to make a leather, more lasting, covering for His beloved children. God has supplied a covering for our sins from the VERY BEGINNING! I imagine a leather covering would last at least a  year...and this reminds me of how, until Jesus shed His blood once for all, that each year a sacrificial lamb had to be slain on the brazen altar for the remission of sins.

When we belong to Christ, a different plan is put into effect to save us from sin's grasp, because we can't and don't keep God's laws.

John 3:16a

"For God so loved......"

Romans 8:3-4 LB (Emphasis mine)

"He sent his own Son in a human body like ours--except that ours are sinful--and destroyed sin's control over us by giving Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us."

Father...

we ask that you help each of us to walk in the Spirit this year...to call upon You in our times of weakness and distress...to look to the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver us, instead of applying our own weak and futile efforts to change ourselves. We realize that in ourselves we  will fail, and we thank you that You have reminded us that Your plan is wiser, stronger, and sufficient. Help us to call upon the Lord and to apply the covering of His shed blood to cleanse us of our sins...We thank and praise You, and we ask these things in Jesus' loving, gracious name. Amen

Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ Jesus,

Marlene JuHaros,

Texas Seed Sower

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"Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know

which will grow--perhaps it all will."

Eccl. 11:6

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