Devotional Thoughts: Proverbs 13:6

I was raised in Northern Virginia but went to college in North Carolina. I had a heavy foot when driving home from school and this resulted in speeding tickets! I got so many that the state of North Carolina sent me a letter informing me my NC driver’s license had been revoked! However, I didn’t have a NC driver’s license! My license was issued by Virginia! I felt relieved I didn’t get that same letter from the state of Virginia! I was able to keep my license and I was relieved. I learned that there’s a freedom and a protection in choosing to drive more cautiously. If I’m not speeding I don’t have to look over my shoulder or worry if there’s a cop waiting to get me around the next corner. I eventually decided this is a better way to drive and certainly, it’s a better way to live my life as well.

Righteousness, doing the right thing, can be a guard or a protector over us. Less sin means less worry! Less worry means more joy! God desires for all of us to live free from the bondage of sin that entangles and destroys. Every day is a challenge and a new circumstance. We choose to do the right thing or to sin. Sin can ravage us and our families. It can ravage an entire nation as we all grieve the shooting in TX last week. Sin will eventually overthrow each one of us if we do not lay down our sin, confess it and ask God’s forgiveness. Here’s how Peter said we should do this in Acts 2:

“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭2:38‬ ‭ESV

The only way to defeat sin in our lives is to follow what Peter preached: repent and turn away from sin. Peter tells us to be baptized; this meant to make public that you are a believer and follower of Jesus. It is then we receive the gift of the Spirit, our guide, our comfort, the One that empowers us to live a righteous life. We do not have the power to overcome sin on our own but if we surrender, if we let go, we gain everything! We know what it feels like to be blameless. None of us deserve this. God is so full of mercy and grace!