......Filthy Rags

It's  the 4th Quarter, the ball is on the one (1) yard line with :02 seconds on the clock. You call a time out to go over the play that you have went over time and time again in practice. Your opposition knows you are going to get the ball so they send in extra defense of lineman to stuff the holes; to make sure that you have no way of getting in. Aware of the strategy of your opponent your team decides to fake the ball to you and have you go out for a quick pass. Focused on stuffing the holes in the line, the defense overlooks you in the end zone all alone. Your quarterback doesn't though; he tosses you the ball, all the fans stand to their feet, the players on each side line watch in silence, the ball comes right to you and just like that you drop the pass. Game Over! The other team rejoices. You sink to your knees in disbelief, the crowd and your teammates gasp as the clock reflects 00:00 on the scoreboard for all to see. Teammates come to your side to give you a hand, but you decline, you just want to sit there. Everyone has vacated the field and return to the locker rooms, but you're still there, trying to figure out how can I drop the ball after  practicing that very same throw, that very same route hundreds of times. Often times in life we miss the mark. Even after knowing all that Jesus did for us, we drop the ball. The most simplest thing, the thing we know we shouldn't do, the very thing He delivered us from, we find ourselves right back in the miry clay. We hate the sin, but deep in our soul we have become infatuated with the sensation or gratification that we get out of the wrong that we've convince ourselves is right. How do we break free. Do we continue in sin because we know that we are forgiven? Do we wait to do that which God has called us away from and shortly thereafter say "I'm sorry Lord" when subconsciously we actually love the mud, the dirt, the miry clay? Certainly not! As a matter of fact, "He became sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God In Christ Jesus" (II Corinthians 5:21). On top of that, "I have been crucified with Christ, its no longer I that live but its Christ that lives in me; the life that I now live in the body I live by faith through the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). We shouldn't go back to what God has already declared us free from. :For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23).  My sin no longer has dominion over me. #believerinChrist