Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we will seek wisdom on living free from the burden of sin.

Romans 6:6‭-‬7 (NLT) says…
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

Consider…
A Shackle is a restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner or slave).

Spoiler alert, humans are shackled to sin. Romans 5:12 (AMP) tells us…
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned.

And thanks to Adam, we must admit like David, in Psalms 51:5 (NLT)…
For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

Unfortunately, our struggle with sin begins with our birth, and if we’re honest, we like the Apostle Paul, still struggle with sin, even after our rebirth. Does Paul’s internal conflict shared in Romans 7:14‭-‬23 (ERV) resonate with you?…
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not. I am so human. Sin rules me as if I were its slave. I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do the good I want to do, and I do the evil I hate. And if I don’t want to do what I do, that means I agree that the law is good. But I am not really the one doing the evil. It is sin living in me that does it. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is not spiritual. I want to do what is good, but I don’t do it. I don’t do the good that I want to do. I do the evil that I don’t want to do. So if I do what I don’t want to do, then I am not really the one doing it. It is the sin living in me that does it. So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. In my mind I am happy with God’s law. But I see another law working in my body. That law makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and that law makes me its prisoner.

Indeed, the struggle is real. However, like the African-Americans in Texas who were the last to realize they were free, we seem to forget Christ has set us free from the power of sin.

Notice Romans 6:20 (ERV) speaks in the past tense…
In the past you were slaves to sin, and you did not even think about doing right.

So does Ephesians 2:1‭-‬3 (ERV)…
In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.

However, look at Jesus’ words in John 8:36 (NLT)…
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

That means when we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we were set free from the guilt and power of sin. Like Romans 8:1‭-‬2 (NLT)
says…
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

However, with freedom comes responsibility, and Galatians 5:13 (ERV) spells out the responsibility of our God given freedom…
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Lastly, not only have we been set free from the guilt and power of sin, we have been endowed with the power to live godly, as stated in 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)…
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

So today, I encourage you to live free from the burden of sin! By doing so, we honor Jesus who stood in our place, shackled to the cross, and died for our freedom, as explained in Philippians 2:7‭-‬8 (NLT)…
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Our freedom cost God everything. So, let’s take the shackles (of sin) off and live like it!

Today’s song is…
Shackles
https://youtu.be/1_9gMSE_HyU?si=peNMZvt_0dNlQFDN

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)