By Ed Williams
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16 (ESV)
Its summertime and the blockbuster season is in full swing. We are inundated with countless advertisements for alien slayers, elite warriors, the ever popular super hero, fast cars and even faster women. Production and advertising teams have studied and planned for months hoping what they feed the mainstream media will produce fruit and the fruit they seek is cash. They have studied our desires, hopes and dreams and expect their hard work to motivate us to obey our appetite for entertainment and donate our discretionary income to their industry. Disclaimer! Be advised; I know this cycle all too well. I love going to the movies and have for years embraced what the summer season offered, yet it dawned on me that I put up little resistance to this cycle and it made me wonder what else am I not resisting and why?
Romans 6:16 states “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”. It basically says that what you submit to owns you. Caution! I am not saying that watching movies is a sin or that it will lead to death nor am I saying that it will lead to righteousness. They are a source of enjoyment for many in the world, not just me. I just use it an example of an imbalance in my life which has people that employ strategies like those used by the adversary of our souls. Satan is a master at using data of our history to exploit our desires. He uses those desires to trip us up and not follow the plan of God just as he did in the Garden of Eden with the first family. I have good news though, we can resist. Those of us in Christ have been given the Key to God’s Blessings which enables us to be victorious over those schemes. That Key is Obedience and your life…your resistance hinges on it.
Obedience enables us to choose which way we flow. The Lord has provided us the key to His blessings and all we have to do is walk into the access He granted. 1 Samuel 15:22(b) testifies to the validity of Romans 6:16 when it says “…obedience is better than sacrifice…”. The scriptures tells us that who/what we obey will determine our submission and outcome. We are not limited to the temptation or enticements of Satan’s strategies; we can resist. After all 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) says “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” That way of escape is obedience and all we have to do is follow it. So as you walk with Christ this summer, choose obedience as your response to life’s challenges.